Gone Girl

Gone Girl was a movie that I knew I was going to like from the first time I saw the trailer. I was hoping that this would be the movie that would make me confident about Ben Affleck as an actor. I was hoping that this would be the movie that brought Rosamund Pike into the limelight. I was hoping that this would be another movie that I read the book first and then the movie captured the story perfectly like a similar Ben Affleck project, Gone Baby Gone.

I had high expectations for this movie, both before and after I read the book.

Gone Girl begins with the story of Nick Dunne (played by Ben Affleck). Nick is your average midwestern husband. He's got the gorgeous wife Amy (played by Rosamund Pike) and things seem like they're going well.

Until he returns home on their 5th anniversary to find signs of a struggle and his wife missing.

The story is very much focused on the ride this character goes through as the investigation into his wife's disappearance continues to become more and more complicated and public opinion on him goes from good, to bad, to worse, all because of the evidence they find in the investigation.

As you've probably seen before, nothing is at it seems in this crime drama/thriller. However, I still think that the twist in this movie is pretty good and you'll enjoy it.

While one side of the story is the investigation of Amy's disappearance and effect its having on Nick as well as the public opinion and its effect on him, the other side of the story follows the diary entries of Amy as she transcribes what her and Nick's marriage was like.

The story begins a couple years before Amy disappears when they lived in New York, how they met, how Nick proposed, etc.

I have to hand it to both these actors because prior to this film, they were well known, but I don't know, at least for me, if there was something that absolutely said that they were incredibly talented.

You know my deal with Ben Affleck. He's had some horrible movies like Daredevil, and a lot of other movies I just don't have the patience to watch. But he's really turned his career around in movies like The Town, and Argo. So much that he's actually making me really excited about him dawning the cowl and becoming the caped crusader.

Rosamund Pike hasn't done as many noticeably bad movies, she just hasn't been that well known of an actress. I don't know if this will boost her career incredibly, but she got an Oscar nod so I'm guessing it will have some effect on her career. Making her more than just the girl from the last Brosnan Bond film and Jack Reacher.

But again, the two do a really good job at creating a great relationship. These two are believable as a couple and they really do have chemistry. They do a really good job at building up this great relationship and then having it take a totally different turn as the story goes on.

Juxtaposing Nick's response to the pressure of the media and the investigation with these diary entrees really makes you wonder what happened to Amy, is Nick innocent, and what is the secret behind it all.

I'm being slightly vague because I don't want any spoilers for this movie to get out to you. I want you to see the movie having no conceived notions of what might happen and take everything in as you go.

In case you're wondering, this movie is an incredible adaptation of the movie. I try not to say too much about the books and how they relate to the movie because this is not a book review, its a movie review.

What I will say though is that this movie is a fantastic adaptation. If you've read the book, you'll be blown away by how close it is to the book and how much it just works as a movie. I think the author probably wrote this book with a movie in mind and even if she didn't, its just down right good.

So whether you've read the book or not, you'll enjoy this film. I would say the fun part about watching this movie if you've seen the book is seeing how close it gets to the book. A great adaptation.

Another cool thing about this film is the supporting cast. The movie mainly focuses on Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, but there is a strong supporting cast. The sister of Nick, Margot (played by Carrie Coon) actually really surprised me because I hadn't seen Carrie Coon in too many (if any) things. She was very good in this film.

But then you've got roles that you would never expect to be in a dark David Fincher film like this but they are and they're great. Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry are the examples here. I love Neil Patrick Harris of course. I love him in How I Met Your Mother and I've always wanted to see him in more. But I never thought I'd see him in a dark murder mystery.

Same with Tyler Perry. Unlike NPH, I am not impressed with Perry's past resume. I'm not a huge Madea fan to say the least. But he did a really good job.

The woman who played the detective (Kim Dickens) also very good.

I mean obviously the stars of the film are Affleck and Pike. They just rock it and they really carry the film. In the past, I've thought that Affleck was an okay actor who was very good at surrounding himself with a good cast to kind of overshadow his not so great acting. However, in this movie, he's carrying it, and he rocks it. Again, I'm excited for Ben Affleck to do more.

And then there's Rosamund Pike. I can't really say why she's so good in this film, but she's really good in this film. Just believe me. Watch the movie and believe me.

Because Gone Girl is just a down right awesome film. In fact, I'm writing this a couple days after I just saw it and it just came on TV. Its the kind of movie that I think I could watch multiple times and really enjoy it.

So I'll just leave this review here and continue watching Gone Girl again.

What do you think of Gone Girl? Comment and Discuss below! You can also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 to get updates on movie news and reviews. You can also shoot me your thoughts on films there and you give me requests.

I'll leave you with this. I would give you the honest trailer for this movie but its chalk full of spoilers. But part of what they say in the trailer is this is a well acted, well written, well made Lifetime movie. So speaking of which, did anybody catch A Deadly Adoption? I didn't but it looked hilarious. Here's the trailer. Enjoy!