Finally saw this last night. I was a little disappointed. I haven't read the book by the way (I would hate going to see a film knowing what will happen, for me it defeats the point of watching it - especially anything with any kind of twist).
I think I quite liked the first part of the film where Amy mysteriously vanished and you are wondering what could have happened. But after that it went downhill for me. I was expecting
Nick to be a main suspect for some time (which he was with the media) and for us all to be immersed, as an audience, in to 'what has happened'. We were, but only for a little while and not in any great depth once the initial clues had been mentioned. I had actually guessed it had been faked early on (probably because I've seen/read a few storied of people taking their own blood to fake their own murder). Once the reveal came around, the film kind of changed direction for me and became less mysterious and more unrealistic and annoying. I expected many more twists, especially from the trailer with the mysterious Neil Patrick Harris. I guess I was expecting more tension and more of a 'Prisoners' type feel.
There were also a few things I didn't quite understand:
1. Why Amy hit herself in the face with a hammer - was she just going for the sympathy vote? It didn't seem to correspond with any kind of plan.
2. Why Amy all of a sudden became a complete slob and managed to pile on a load of weight and have a huge puffy face within a few days- was this just her doing what she supposedly wanted?
3. Presumably her plan was to possibly kill her self and have Nick go down for murder. Or was she always going to stay alive and the 'kill self' notes were just her being deluded? Because one thing that doesn't add up is the Punch and Judy clue which essentially gives away part of her plan - i.e. that she is still alive.
I left the cinema feeling like it was 'ok' and it was quite entertaining so I didn't dislike it. I think I was expecting a slightly different genre/style of film. I was also quite surprised at the number of amusing bits thrown in - the audience were laughing a lot in places.
Another couple of things I've just remembered that don't seem to make sense:
4. The security tapes from the lake house would have shown her going in with NPH. When she threw a load of red wine on her self and screamed at the camera to make it look as if she was being abused/held hostage it didn't add up (she 'escaped' to the window for 5 minutes, then what happened?). The tapes would almost contradict her I would have thought.
5. The pregnancy line was convoluted. Nick went to a fertility clinic and brought his sperm home for some reason (or they sent it to him). Amy faked her pregnancy by using her neighbour's urine to get a positive on a pregnancy test. There were various discussions about Nick having disposed of the sperm. Then a month later Amy uses his sperm to impregnate herself? How long would that sperm even keep for - surely not a month?! Where was she keeping it? Or are we to believe she impregnated herself before she faked her death? What was with all the contradictory stuff about who wanted a baby - he said he did and she didn't but we saw her suggesting it to him.
I'm sure there are more but I can't recall them now. I think there were just quite a lot of plot holes! Tends to be the case with things like this though.
It's a strange one for me because I loved it, but yet I'm still slightly underwhelmed?
I thought it was an excellent adaptation from a book (sometimes you get the whole "the book was better" thing). This was basically the book.
I loved Rosamund Pike, she's amazing in this role.
I still feel the film doesn't have THAT moment that it will be remembered for, though there were great scenes. Like in Fatal Attraction for example, you instantly think of the bunny boiler scene
I have no idea what I'm trying to say, I loved it & will buy the blu ray.
Oddly enough some people said it's much more enjoyable on a second viewing as you get the gags and notice things more clearer (something about how Nick doesn't actually knock Amy to the ground?)
We saw it last night - agree with the above about loving it but being a bit underwhelmed.
When the credits started rolling, I just thought, "ok...?"
I did gasp a few times at:
1. Nick shoving Amy into the bannister - although I am now unsure if this really happened the way it was shown? I am assuming not
2. When Amy cut Desi's throat - I was not expecting that AT ALL!
3. When Nick pushed Amy's head against the wardrobe or whatever it was - it made me wonder if the previous DV scene was in fact real?
I didn't really notice the plot holes until I came online later. Some very good points have been raised regarding the Lake House and the cameras as well as the stuff that Amy had bought with the cards - how did she get it all there without anyone noticing? I felt very frustrated with the scene where Amy was being questioned by the FBI and Boney was just dismissed - she knew and she couldn't do anything about it!
I still feel the film doesn't have THAT moment that it will be remembered for, though there were great scenes. Like in Fatal Attraction for example, you instantly think of the bunny boiler scene
Well I'm not sure all films have a specific scene, however for Gone Girl I think for me it was definitely
the quite brutal sex murder with the box cutter
I also think the potential domestic violence scenes were left ambiguous on purpose - you don't see much.
Psycopath storyline aside, there was nothing in the film that you could relate to from a relationship standpoint? The manipulation of partners, society's perception of marriage being more important than the reality of the marriage. Not being your true self but pandering to anothers 'ideal'? Issues at the heart of many marriage problems. Even on a basic level, the questions asked continually through the film, "How do you feel?" "What are you thinking?" "What have we done to each other?"...how could it not make you think about your own relationship?
It's a film, a story, yes, much like Star Wars.
I agree with you, Martin. I read the book and loved it, and thought the ending was excellent and authentic. I loved the film - neither character is particularly likable and the wife is a brattish, self-obsessed woman in a world where selfies and self-obsession are encouraged. I loved the role the media and social networking played
I went to see this film with a friend. It was ok in places but too slow for me, so slow it made it boring. Part way through I passed my friend a note saying 'bored', she nodded and we left a few minutes later. I couldn't care less what happened to Amy and wasn't interested in him or any other character.
The book bored me senseless….. I threw it about three quarter ways through. There wasn't a sympathetic or likable character in it. You have to be on someone's side in a story, either rooting for the husband, or feeling sorry for the wife, but I found myself not caring a fig what happened to any of them, not the dull husband, his dull sister, the dull police, or the barking mad wife.
Would be interesting to see if the movie is any more appealing !
I don't think so, but others would disagree. I know someone who said the book was boring and slow at times, well for me the film was exactly like that. But you should see it to see how it compares to the book.
The film lacked tension as I thought the mystery of her "disappearance" was obvious. Agree that Nick was portrayed too sympathetically. Liked the bits of humour. Thought Rosamund was very convincing but her voice seems deeper in films than interviews, not sure why. Ben Affleck was slightly less wooden than usual.
The dialogue at the beginning was too forced and "clever" in their first meeting scene. They lacked chemistry, but it did get better as the film progressed.
The mistress character was totally cliched. Men with cold beautiful wives tend to cheat with the opposite type of woman e.g. think Tiger Woods. This showed Nick cheating with another beauty. Also, the mistress's nudity was salacious and unnecessary. Add to this the fact that Ben Affleck hand-picked the 23 year old actress after seeing her nude on the Blurred Lines video and it becomes distinctly creepy.
The mistress character was totally cliched. Men with cold beautiful wives tend to cheat with the opposite type of woman e.g. think Tiger Woods. This showed Nick cheating with another beauty. Also, the mistress's nudity was salacious and unnecessary. Add to this the fact that Ben Affleck hand-picked the 23 year old actress after seeing her nude on the Blurred Lines video and it becomes distinctly creepy.
Why would Affleck hand pick her? Surely it would be up to David Fincher since he is the director and the one who oversees casting decisions.
I do agree though that getting the model from the Blurred Lines video with the massive tits to play the mistress sounds a lot like stunt casting to me.
Why would Affleck hand pick her? Surely it would be up to David Fincher since he is the director and the one who oversees casting decisions.
I do agree though that getting the model from the Blurred Lines video with the massive tits to play the mistress sounds a lot like stunt casting to me.
I read that Affleck suggested Emily Ratajkowski to Fincher and Affleck was there at her audition (she said she hadn't expected Affleck to be there when she turned up). She got a phone call an hour later saying she'd got the part.
I went to see this film with a friend. It was ok in places but too slow for me, so slow it made it boring. Part way through I passed my friend a note saying 'bored', she nodded and we left a few minutes later. I couldn't care less what happened to Amy and wasn't interested in him or any other character.
You walked out of one of the best films of the year? You must have a very short attention span as I was never bored, it kept me captivated throughout. Not Finchers best but still very well made and highly watchable.
I quite enjoyed this. I thought the Ben Affleck character stayed in the end because he wanted to protect his child, so that made sense to me. Also, I did have one question
wasn't she checked to see if she had an injury on her head where she was supposedly hit before the abduction?
I loved this film. One of the best i have seen this year
I was unsure about Ms Pike until the second half of the time when she totally stole and owned the film. Ben Affleck perhaps gave his first decent performance of his whole career.
wasn't she checked to see if she had an injury on her head where she was supposedly hit before the abduction?
Well, five or so weeks had passed, which could allow time for healing. I suppose there's an argument that there should be something left of such an injury to show up in a detailed examination, but it's still enough time to be credible and not have to delve too deep into suspension of disbelief.
I quite enjoyed this film and still thinking about it after some days. Good satire. I hope that Rosamund Pike at least gets an Oscar nomination for her acting, as I felt she was great in this.
I enjoyed it, I loved the book but found the ending so underwhelming. The film's is marginally better but I'll still never appreciate the way it concludes.
I don't know how Ben Afleck gets work though, he's just awful. Can't act for toffee.
Rosamund did a great job though, she was such a convincing psychopath. Really captured Amy's mysteriousness. I'm glad for her really, she's been in so many bad films over the years (likely not out of choice) so it's great to see her get a good role at last.
My favourite scene was when she's playing mini-golf with the hill billy's. She says after she considered killing herself: "I was gonna drown myself in New Mexico and let myself be dinner for Great Whites. But why should I die? I'm not the asshole!" I just loved that dialogue and the way she delivered those lines. The southern drawl she was putting on made it sound even better.
I don't know how Ben Afleck gets work though, he's just awful. Can't act for toffee.
It makes me laugh when i read comments like this. Please! Ben Affleck may not the best actor, but he certainly isn't a bad one.
He's been great in many films i've liked and enjoyed - Good Will Hunting, Dogma, Boiler Room, Changing Lanes, The Town, State of Play and Argo to name a few.
Reese Witherspoon, Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, Emily Blunt, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Abbie Cornish and Julianne Hough were considered for the role of Amy Dunne. Witherspoon had already been hired as one of the film's producers.
Jessica Chastain was considered for the role of Amy Dunne.
Comments
I think I quite liked the first part of the film where Amy mysteriously vanished and you are wondering what could have happened. But after that it went downhill for me. I was expecting
There were also a few things I didn't quite understand:
2. Why Amy all of a sudden became a complete slob and managed to pile on a load of weight and have a huge puffy face within a few days- was this just her doing what she supposedly wanted?
3. Presumably her plan was to possibly kill her self and have Nick go down for murder. Or was she always going to stay alive and the 'kill self' notes were just her being deluded? Because one thing that doesn't add up is the Punch and Judy clue which essentially gives away part of her plan - i.e. that she is still alive.
I left the cinema feeling like it was 'ok' and it was quite entertaining so I didn't dislike it. I think I was expecting a slightly different genre/style of film. I was also quite surprised at the number of amusing bits thrown in - the audience were laughing a lot in places.
5. The pregnancy line was convoluted. Nick went to a fertility clinic and brought his sperm home for some reason (or they sent it to him). Amy faked her pregnancy by using her neighbour's urine to get a positive on a pregnancy test. There were various discussions about Nick having disposed of the sperm. Then a month later Amy uses his sperm to impregnate herself? How long would that sperm even keep for - surely not a month?! Where was she keeping it? Or are we to believe she impregnated herself before she faked her death? What was with all the contradictory stuff about who wanted a baby - he said he did and she didn't but we saw her suggesting it to him.
I'm sure there are more but I can't recall them now. I think there were just quite a lot of plot holes! Tends to be the case with things like this though.
Similar to The War Of The Roses with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas satire wise O reckon (very good comedy movie that one)
Gone Girl just felt more on the money. Plus, The War of the Roses never really worked for me.
To be honest I was quite disappointed. It was alright but that's all I could say.
The plot became pretty predictable as the film went on,and there were some major plot holes I thought The whole lake house part just didn't add up.
Although in fairness it did keep my interest going.
Seen better,seen worse.
I thought it was an excellent adaptation from a book (sometimes you get the whole "the book was better" thing). This was basically the book.
I loved Rosamund Pike, she's amazing in this role.
I still feel the film doesn't have THAT moment that it will be remembered for, though there were great scenes. Like in Fatal Attraction for example, you instantly think of the bunny boiler scene
I have no idea what I'm trying to say, I loved it & will buy the blu ray.
Oddly enough some people said it's much more enjoyable on a second viewing as you get the gags and notice things more clearer (something about how Nick doesn't actually knock Amy to the ground?)
When the credits started rolling, I just thought, "ok...?"
I did gasp a few times at:
2. When Amy cut Desi's throat - I was not expecting that AT ALL!
3. When Nick pushed Amy's head against the wardrobe or whatever it was - it made me wonder if the previous DV scene was in fact real?
I didn't really notice the plot holes until I came online later. Some very good points have been raised regarding the Lake House and the cameras as well as the stuff that Amy had bought with the cards - how did she get it all there without anyone noticing? I felt very frustrated with the scene where Amy was being questioned by the FBI and Boney was just dismissed - she knew and she couldn't do anything about it!
Well I'm not sure all films have a specific scene, however for Gone Girl I think for me it was definitely
Well worth reading if you haven't already
I agree with you, Martin. I read the book and loved it, and thought the ending was excellent and authentic. I loved the film - neither character is particularly likable and the wife is a brattish, self-obsessed woman in a world where selfies and self-obsession are encouraged. I loved the role the media and social networking played
I don't think so, but others would disagree. I know someone who said the book was boring and slow at times, well for me the film was exactly like that. But you should see it to see how it compares to the book.
The dialogue at the beginning was too forced and "clever" in their first meeting scene. They lacked chemistry, but it did get better as the film progressed.
The mistress character was totally cliched. Men with cold beautiful wives tend to cheat with the opposite type of woman e.g. think Tiger Woods. This showed Nick cheating with another beauty. Also, the mistress's nudity was salacious and unnecessary. Add to this the fact that Ben Affleck hand-picked the 23 year old actress after seeing her nude on the Blurred Lines video and it becomes distinctly creepy.
Why would Affleck hand pick her? Surely it would be up to David Fincher since he is the director and the one who oversees casting decisions.
I do agree though that getting the model from the Blurred Lines video with the massive tits to play the mistress sounds a lot like stunt casting to me.
I read that Affleck suggested Emily Ratajkowski to Fincher and Affleck was there at her audition (she said she hadn't expected Affleck to be there when she turned up). She got a phone call an hour later saying she'd got the part.
You walked out of one of the best films of the year? You must have a very short attention span as I was never bored, it kept me captivated throughout. Not Finchers best but still very well made and highly watchable.
I was unsure about Ms Pike until the second half of the time when she totally stole and owned the film. Ben Affleck perhaps gave his first decent performance of his whole career.
I quite enjoyed this film and still thinking about it after some days. Good satire. I hope that Rosamund Pike at least gets an Oscar nomination for her acting, as I felt she was great in this.
I don't know how Ben Afleck gets work though, he's just awful. Can't act for toffee.
Rosamund did a great job though, she was such a convincing psychopath. Really captured Amy's mysteriousness. I'm glad for her really, she's been in so many bad films over the years (likely not out of choice) so it's great to see her get a good role at last.
My favourite scene was when she's playing mini-golf with the hill billy's. She says after she considered killing herself: "I was gonna drown myself in New Mexico and let myself be dinner for Great Whites. But why should I die? I'm not the asshole!" I just loved that dialogue and the way she delivered those lines. The southern drawl she was putting on made it sound even better.
It makes me laugh when i read comments like this. Please! Ben Affleck may not the best actor, but he certainly isn't a bad one.
He's been great in many films i've liked and enjoyed - Good Will Hunting, Dogma, Boiler Room, Changing Lanes, The Town, State of Play and Argo to name a few.
Jessica Chastain was considered for the role of Amy Dunne.
Brad Pitt was considered to play Nick Dunne.