Gone Girl

I read the book.

This summer there was a piddling amount of good movies for adults (I almost said adult movies) from the major studios. So when a movie based on a huge best seller with an A list cast hits the big screen it was the go to movie. The movie is worth seeing, but there are short comings. The plot is intriguing and helps numb the two and half hour run time. Simply put the wife is gone and what happened to her and the search for her is the crux of the story. As with all good mysteries there are sub plots and twists that weave throughout the story. There will be no awards for acting in this movie. No one broke a sweat. Even the sex scenes were tepid rather than steamy.

Ben Affleck is Nick Dunne. Nick has crushing good looks and women are at his disposal. Throughout the movie Nick has a calm demeanor even when discovering his wife is missing; this role is a cake walk for Affleck. His interactions with his wife are spirited and she often incites him. She is smarter than Nick and manipulates him.  Nick is a victim of his own limitations. The dynamics and dysfunctions of their marriage is the foundation of the movie.  

Rosamund Pike is Nick’s wife. I first saw Pike in the Bond movie “Die Another Day” where she played a   double agent and turns on Bond. With her fine porcelain looks and blond mane she looks as threatening as a kitten waking up from a nap. She is well suited to play Amy Dunne Elliot. Amy is a sophisticated, rich and a smart beautiful Manhattanite. She also is a pathological controlling perfectionist freak. She is devoid of guilt and she can really hold a grudge. Pike plays the role well with an eerie claim and detachment.

The movie takes some detours from the book. Tyler Perry plays Nick’s lawyer Tanner Bolt. In the book Tanner is a sleazy high prolife white lawyer who has a stunning six foot tall black wife. Here we get half the deal, sans high heels. Perry is his usual swaggering confident self; no sweat here either.

The strangest casting is Neil Patrick Harris. He is Amy’s old boyfriend Desi Collings, who has an overly obsessive attraction to Amy and stalks her. How can someone that looks like a stick figure be intimidating?  If there was a death match between Amy and Desi, I would take Amy hands down.

Other fine actors contributed. Inspector Boney had a bigger role in the movie that the book and she was crucial to the film. His sister Go (Margo) was cast well in the movie compared to the book, she brought some much needed humor.

Even with these short comings you should see the movie.

This is where I leave you

I am usually leery of ensemble movies. They tend to pile on the stars to compensate for either a weak script or ineffective directing.  This is not the case here. This a very enjoyable film and the ensemble works well as a dysfunctional family. The story is a patchwork of sub plots which are individual but rooted in the family. Above all this is a very funny movie and the laughs continue throughout the film.

The father of the family just died and his last wish is that his family sit Shiva. One son commented that their father was almost an atheist and another asked if the location of a chair was the same place they put the Christmas tree. The matriarch of this family is the ageless Jane Fonda with her inflated boobs which is a running gag in the movie. The other strong female is Tina Fay with her sharp wit and grit.

Jason Bateman is a lead character who is going through a marital crisis compounded by the death of his father. He display’s his trademark wry sense of humor and is disturbed by his mother’s overflowing breasts. A rising star to watch is Adam Driver. He gained acclaim from his role in “Girls” on HBO. He plays the ADHD insensitive clues son. He screws anything in high heels (or flats).

There are other story’s which coalesce into this enjoyable movies. Go see it.