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| Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike do career-best work in "Gone Girl" (20th Century Fox) |
David Fincher had too much story to work through to
truly make Gone Girl work. Between a
crackling opening, riveting centerpiece – that infamous “Cool Girl” soliloquy –
and mostly brilliant ending is too much slog and too little profundity. Gillian
Flynn’s voice is certainly on-display – including her hit-or-miss wisecrack
banter – but it’s ultimately Fincher’s vision that makes Gone Girl a worthy, sporadically fantastic picture. Atticus Ross
and Trent Reznor’s latest score for Fincher is especially unsettling, and in
general, “Gone Girl” boasts a cold, detached look and feel that perfectly suits
the film’s material. Most notably, Fincher’s vision of Flynn’s novel is
ruthlessly, marvelously satirical. It’s when Rosamund Pike’s “Amazing Amy” goes
off the deep end that the film’s ideas about marriage and commitment fail to
really land; one might wish Fincher had less mystery to get through to get back
to his bitingly funny, often incisive, commentary. B