If I knew how Nick and Amy’s relationship came together, I might feel like this movie came together with that grand twist at the end. I mean it- the structure of the story, all those vicious twists and drops off the beaten path were stellar. I just didn’t feel a thing for anybody by the end, and I consider being able to empathize with characters in a film to be what makes a film truly great. Gone Girl is all plot and icy cold. With all credit due Gillian Flynn and David Fincher for crafting a thoroughly engrossing and gut-wrenching plot, the maze of virtue and deceit was memorable. And worth seeing if you can stand seeing gushing blood, because that’s really the apex of all the brutality. Murderous redemption is the bent key. Perhaps the chill the film left me with was a part of the effect of seeing an angle of Lilith and a bedraggled Adam on screen.
We can’t trust Amy, because she lies to everyone, but also to us- viewers who probably all rooted for her until her dark side was exposed. And we don’t like Nick, not even when he plays the press, because he’s of weak blood and a foolish heart. The legal system switches teams, the press is played, and all social contacts are used as pawns…all except Nick’s sister, who remains loyal to him throughout- the only stable force in the film.
Viewers have nothing in this film to grab onto by the teeth except for the consolation that the characters themselves are in the same boat. It’s cruel, and that is not at all a problem. I just would’ve loved to see the implication that the couple ever loved each other developed on any level- if only in a flashback of a mutual gaze or laughter. They seem numb and mean. Then it gets worse until someone’s throat gets slit.
Kaitlin Sansoucie 