(photo: ropeofsilicon.com)
Who would miss a David Fincher film? That’s a question one
could ignore but with his “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” I was convinced. I
also came through The New York Times Best Sellers List two years ago and saw
Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” on top of it but failed to read the book… after
immersing myself for two hours on her screenplay, I guess I became a convert.
These days, there’s too much reviews on the film that one
would be confused whom to believe or not. But it would be wise not to allow
someone else’s voice to nudge you in your thought processes but make your own
opinion. That’s the beauty of viewing well-crafted films, you will be compelled
to think.
Flynn’s collaboration with Fincher became a marriage of sorts.
The outcome became some kind of a journey to your own stands on the issues and
realities of being married. I know I’m not but I always be the sounding board
of my friends when times get rough.
“Gone Girl” is about a husband who is looking for his wife
who went missing. The story then unravels allowing the viewer to make the
husband as the suspect and when he is almost sure that murder happened, the
wife’s real intentions slap him on the face. Then, after seeing how evil the
wife could be, the viewer will then wish that the husband would murder her.
Fincher is indeed a master on directing his actors. Ben
Affleck (Nick Dunne) is good enough to look both the suspect and the victim,
his controlled arrogance seethes. Rosamund Pike is also one hell of an actress
who could shift expressions from a lovable one to a mean woman.
Then it caught me. I wanted Amy to be convicted or be dead
for all her hideous plots and sick lies. But why won’t I wish Nick harm where in
fact he is also a villain on their marriage with his infidelity, selfishness
and bum-ish traits? Did I fall into the trap of gender bias?
With domestic conflicts, we sometimes fail to look on both
sides of the stories. If we are the wife’s friend, we then paint a bad picture
on the husband not wanting to know whether the wife is just trying to justify
her quirks and emotional hang ups. If we are also buddies with the hubby, and
he aired his story vividly, we would drink till the wee hours to drown in
alcohol with him for sympathy.
But the truth is out there…
“Gone Girl” is fascinating. Basically, this is in the
mystery/thriller genre but it shows the unsettling realities of having
relationships. It’s the up-front fact that with a partner, there is always a
competition on who is the fittest. Some wives/husbands thought that they are
the ONE only to find out late that their partners exceed their expectations.
When the film ended and lights flooded inside the cinema, I
saw the same expressions from the four viewers of the last full show: fear.
They’re probably wondering what they or their partners are capable of.
