Film Review: Gone Girl

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Ben Affleck, bestseller, Carrie Coon, David Fincher, Film Review, Film Review: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl, Hollywood blockbuster, Kim Dickens, Missi Pyle, movies, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Fugit, Rosamund Pike, thriller, Tyler Perry

This autumns most anticipated thriller Gone Girl is finally here and it doesn’t disappoint. Adapted by the author herself, Gillian Flynn has turned her bestseller successfully into a Hollywood blockbuster.

On their fifth year wedding anniversary Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) arrives home to find his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) has disappeared. He calls the police assuming someone broke in and abducted her, but as the investigation unfolds things just don’t add up.

Detectives Boney (Kim Dickens) and Gilpin (Patrick Fugit) soon change the investigation from abduction to murder and Nick becomes their main suspect.

However the police aren’t the only ones watching Nick’s every move, the media is all too present, dissecting his every gesture and creating a modern day witch-hunt.

As the story unfolds, with many twists, turns and surprises, we learn through flashbacks, narrated by Amy herself, all about how Nick and Amy met, fell passionately in love and had to leave their lives in New York behind and help Nick’s mother unsuccessfully fight cancer.

But things aren’t as they seem as Gone Girl play’s with perspective and the situation looks very different from Nick’s point of view. His problem is: will anyone believe him?

With the media showing the world what they think, Margo’s (Carrie Coon) unwavering belief in her twin brother Nick and an obscure treasure hunt supplying some answers, it isn’t surprising the Gone Girl keeps its viewer enthralled and highly entertained.

Both the well constructed script by Gillian Flynn and the direction provided by director David Fincher successfully manage the delicate balancing act between too much and too little information, unbalancing their audience at the perfect moment.

As further the story unravels the more bizarre the film becomes, but in a very enticing and captivating way. A lot of this great entertainment is down to the main actors; Affleck is both sympathetic and highly suspicious as husband Nick, and Pike is one-dimensional when needed and vindictively complex when called for.

Even the side characters lend both humour and interest to the film: Neil Patrick Harris is fantastically creepy as Amy’s high school stalker boyfriend, Tyler Perry says exactly what the audience is thinking as a high-powered lawyer who made a name for himself defending murderous husbands and Missi Pyle is perfect as a talk-show host with a piranha-esque bite and smile.

But what is really surprising about Gone Girl is the unique look it takes at society, class and agendas, how happiness turns into ruins, how lies, deceit and the ever-present media form and destroy perceptions, even when the truth seems more obvious – and it’s funny! At times so much so that there are laugh out loud moments, but don’t think you’ll leave the cinema with a giggle, your head may be spinning a little, you’ll feel a little confused, a “what the f***” may not be too far from your lips and you’ll definitely be thinking about Gone Girl for a while.

Overall Gone Girl and David Fincher have achieved something rare, a hyped up film that lives up to its promises.

Film Review: The Calling

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Christopher Heyerdahl, Donald Sutherland, Ellen Burstyn, Fargo, Film Review, Film review: The Calling, Gil Bellows, Inger Ash Wolf, movies, screenwriter Scott Abramovitch, Susan Sarandon, The Calling, Topher Grace

Based in a small snowy town in Canada with a female cop as a lead The Calling is begging to be compared with Fargo. Sadly The Calling falls somewhat short as the dark humour in missing and it feels more like a TV drama than a big screen thriller despite its stellar cast.

Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) holds down an undemanding job in a sleepy town in Ontario. Despite taking pain killers and enjoying her booze she seems to know what she is doing which becomes more evident when a gruesome murder occurs.

An elderly woman is found with her head nearly cut off and a silent scream fixed on her face. This is just the first of a series of bizarrely positioned bodies with odd frozen facial expressions, all indicating that some ancient Christian ritual was taking place.

Hazel and her fellow detective Ray (Gil Bellows) follow up the leads and ,with the help of Ben (Topher Grace) – a capable transfer from Toronto- figure out who the murderer is: a creepy religious zealot called Simon (Christopher Heyerdahl) and the cat and mouse game begins.

The best thing about The Calling is the line-up of talent. Smaller roles are filled with big name actors like Donald Sutherland as Father Price or Ellen Burstyn as Saradon’s concerned mother and Sarandon is quite intense in her role as Hazel, if a little cliché ridden. But it is Grace’s usual charisma that fills the screen and an outstanding performance by Heyerdahl is what really grabs your attention.

The premise of The Calling is great, the atmosphere good, the actors terrific, but the script is sluggish. Adapted from Inger Ash Wolf’s novel the screenplay to The Calling is overworked by screenwriter Scott Abramovitch.

So maybe this is the wrong film for Jason Stone to debut his career with, or maybe he is a more creative screenwriter and producer, but The Calling just lacks that little bit of oomph, to make it a great film.

long days and films

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Films, friends, G&T, Glasnevin Cemetery, Gone Girl, long days, Million Dubliners, movies, preview screening, pumkin

Yesterday was a long and busy day, but a good one. I started the day with going to  a press screening of a film, a documentary about the Glasnevin Cemetery called One Million Dubliners (review to follow).

Then I hurried over to college to entertain my students for five hours, non-stop, no break, rewarding but tiring work.

Once I departed all the knowledge I could in the time given, I could feel myself dropping into that zone of depleted energy and tiredness but my day wasn’t done yet. I still had a preview screening to go to with only a little time to grab a sandwich and some much needed coffee.

The advance screening was of much anticipated Gone Girl (review here) and since I had two tickets to the event I took a friend along with me. There were even some goodies stashed away beside the seats for us to tuck into.

I hadn’t really heard much about the actual content of the film, only that the book was a bestseller, one to read and that the film was meant to be one of the best of the year. Whenever these statements are made I am more often than not expecting very much, as false promises and the film industry go hand in hand.

But this time around I was pleasantly surprised: the film is really good! Both my friend and I came out of the cinema, a little dazed, and  we both agreed, definitely a film that deserves the attention it is getting.

Over a quick G&T we chatted, dissected and recapped the film and the recent events of our lives. So the quick turned into late and by the time a taxi dropped me off at my front door it was well past midnight.

So I am  feeling a little pumpkin-esque this morning, maybe befitting of the season, but I just hope that my students will be good and forgive me if my usually sparkly self is a little dull this morning.