Marriages of entrapment, psychopathic lovers
Bakang Israel | Friday October 17, 2014 13:03
Most people are afraid of commitment, getting married and settling down. After watching Gone Girl one realises why this is the case in most instances. Just like other good mystery movies like Harry Porter, Twilight, The Maze Runner among others, this dramatic thriller is actually a book adaptation too.
It is the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn. Crown Publishing Group published the novel in June 2012 and it soon made the New York Times Best Seller list.
The film adaptation examines dishonesty, the media, the economy’s effects on marriage, and appearances.
The movie centres around a couple whose marriage is falling apart because of lies, jealousy and other ingredients of a bad relationship.
This is the marriage of Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). Ben Affleck is an Oscar-winning actor known for films often focusing on characters caught in situations out of their depth.
He played such roles in box office hit movies like Pearl Harbor, Dare Devil and Argo released in 2001, 2003 and 2012 respectively. Co-starring alongside Affleck in this thriller is Rosamund Pike who plays an obsessed wife-cum- psychopath frightened by the prospect of a man leaving her.
Apart from Gone Girl, this English-born actress has also starred in Jack Reacher and James Bond-Die Another Day alongside Tom Cruise and Pierce Brosnan respectively.
Other stars that add appeal to this David Fincher-directed film are funny men, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris. The director himself Fincher always gives audiences mind-blowing experiences of mystery.
Fincher is good in terms of drama movie directing is concerned. In particular, he gave movie enthusiasts the award winning drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (a man who was aging backwards) starring Brad Pitt.
Turning to Gone Girl, the film is on point and dishes out colossal experience in theatre.
Firstly the film delivered a good moral message/lesson, it is informative in the sense that it teaches viewers the bad side of love. This is portrayed well by the fact that in the film when there is trouble in paradise, Nick and Amy’s marriage, all hell breaks loose.
Being the rich wife that she is, Amy goes wild and turns into a lunatic who just won’t accept rejection. A loving wife, plots her own disappearance and leaves a trail of clues that lead straight to her husband to take the fall while she starts a new life elsewhere.
Nick is also caught in a web of mischievous deeds, cheating, low income that gives enough motive for the nation to believe his guilt.
This ulterior motive showcased in Gone Girl signifies that love is sometimes a double-edged sword; a sweet spouse can be a downfall if not treated accordingly. Perhaps this is the reason why people are afraid to commit quickly in real life relationships.
The mystery of the film is also quite good and gives viewers a nail-biting experience with the assumption that indeed Nick might have killed his wife as perceived by the media.
Revelations that follow which show how the devious wife set her husband up are on the movie’s highlights. It goes to show that sometimes the media is quick to judge and is after scoops rather than the truth.
One also has to applaud the screenplay written by the author of the book herself, Gillian Flynn. The pace of this thriller is on point, it is not too slow like most dramas. However, it keeps you on the edge of your seat from the on-set. The movie starts with Nick getting home to a wrecked house. Later after his wife’s disappearance, Nick is acting less concerned, having affairs.
All these startling chain of events make the drama more intriguing to watch, one has to mention the film is way too long. However, 2 hours 29minutes does complements better story telling. Above all credit also has to go to the cast, Pike’s leading role character shone brightest in this movie.
The beautiful monster that was blackmailing men and entrapping her husband makes Gone Girl impressive and exciting.
A look at the box office reception and theatres shows that this good work has not gone unnoticed as Gone Girl is being well received and it is sitting pretty at number one at the box office.
Though this movie is on its first week in Botswana, internationally it is on its second week having been released on October 3.
The movie has already pocketed a gross sum of $77 million after generating an impressive $37 million on premiere weekend.
This is a nice viewing experience that deserves an 8/10 rating because for a drama movie it does give movie enthusiasts more than they bargained for.