A review? Sacre bleu! What are we reviewing? Gone Girl.
A film about a kidnapping/murder-mystery, Gone Girl delivers itself as a straight
“who-done-it” mystery but then has a final third act that flips the entire
table in favor of screwing with some heads. Some might leave with a perplexed
“what the hell” reaction while others will be more just creeped-out on what
finally transpires. What I can say is that the movie ends in a way I wasn’t
fully expecting and every scene building up to it kept me wanting to watch. So
(for the no spoilers part of the review) yes. It’s actually a good movie that
will make you keep asking… wtf whenever a new piece of evidence or new twist to
the case arises. But … now we have to get a tad spoilery… so if you don’t want
anything spoiled… just don’t read any farther. 
Did you guys who haven’t read the book or movie leave? If
not… well… you were warned.
The story follows Ben Affleck who returns home to what looks
like a possible kidnapping scene and also one less wife than he had before. The
cops come and begin treating this immediately like a missing persons case. Very
quickly, this ball gets rolling when the parents-in-law show up to speed the
search for the missing wife (Amy). Every so often, we’re also treated to bits
and pieces of Amy’s diary that tell the story of how she and Ben Affleck first
met all the way up to just before her kidnapping in which she felt like he was
going to kill her and she feared for her life.
On top of the already existing mystery of the missing Amy,
we also have the couple’s anniversary treasure-hunt which leads Ben Affleck to
find out the truth about this whole incident well before the cops. It still
ultimately stacks the deck against him in ways where he needs to get a good
defense attorney and even find the culprit as soon as possible. The only one on
his side the entire time is his sister who is kept in the loop (mostly) on
what’s transpiring as we follow the trail of bread crumbs. But it’s hard to
root for Ben when he’s got another girl on the side, has written testimonials
from his wife about abuse, and neighbors who seem to know more about his wife than
he did. For the most part, Ben Affleck is in deep and it doesn’t seem like
there’s any real light at the end of the tunnel for him.
That being said, not once did I ever think he was the
killer/kidnapper. Yes, things were certainly framed in such a way to make him
seem like the culprit. But once you’ve seen enough cop shows, you know how easy
it can be to stack the deck to make it seem like anyone is the killer. And
framing the husband who seems clueless about his wife throughout the day? That
is like framing Mr. Burns for stealing candy from a baby. But everything, from
where I stood, felt too neat and convenient for us to immediately believe that
Ben Affleck was the killer. Sure, it was a possibility, but it always seemed
like there was a missing piece to the puzzle that never quite added up, which
always kept me doubting our future-Mr-Bruce-Batman-Wayne.
So what ends up happening? Well… I don’t think I really want
to spoil how that part turns out. Half-way through the film we get to see the
real culprit just as Ben Affleck is finally realizing what’s going on and we
see their genius plan from their mindset as they rationalize every moment
that’s taken place so far and how it fits perfectly into their little plan. So
much it gave me that same feeling that I got when I watched Light Yagami from Death Note eat a potato chip while he
was under surveillance (people who saw or read Death Note will get that reference). It’s a sense that the person
has been or at least currently is in full control of the situation and planted
every piece of the puzzle in just the way they needed to make each domino fall.
The worst part… they get away with it. No one gets caught
for the crime and Ben Affleck will NEVER be able to rest easy as a result of
this. And you’re left seeing a truly insane person still pulling all the
strings up to the very end. Again, it was like watching Light or even L just
manipulating the cops, his family or the followers of Kira to try and get
one-up on the other in their eternal game of cat-and-mouse. Granted, the
culprit makes mistakes along the way that forces plans to change course and we
get a much more different ending than I could have expected, but it ultimately
works in the end. 
As far as performances go, everything was better than I expected.
Ben Affleck fit the role as a sleazy husband who is tired of his rocky
relationship with his wife and easily fits the mold of a guy who could be an
abusive killer or just an idiot. His wife comes off as genuinely terrified of
her husband. The sister certainly plays up the confused side-character who
doesn’t know if she can believe her brother when more dirty secrets seem to
keep creeping out of the closet. And I definitely like Tyler Perry as the
lawyer. Never been a fan of his, but he works well in the part.
I think I’ll end the review there before I risk spoiling
anything more than that. Again, to sum things up nicely, it’s not exactly what
I expected in terms of a mystery, but I certainly enjoyed what we ended up
getting as a result. It’s definitely one of the better “mystery” movies I’ve
seen in recent memory and it earns a good recommendation from me. Tune in next
time for a review of either Smash Bros 4
or Shadows of Mordor and look out for
future reviews of movies like The Judge or
Horns. See ya next time.
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