I saw Gone Girl over the weekend, like many American adults. Gone Girl unexpectedly won the box office this weekend, getting $38 million in ticket sales from the over-18 crowd. Actually, most analysts believe that Gone Girl’s audience was over 25 years old, which makes sense. It’s a dark thriller about violence and ennui in the suburbs and it was very much a hard-R rating, with profanity, nudity and gore galore.
SPOILERS BELOW.
First, what I really liked: I loved everything with Rosamund Pike. She was pitch-perfect of the two versions of Amy, the first half of Amy from her diary and then the “real” Amy. She was just great, playing at sympathetic and then turning on a dime to be as cold as ice. I wanted more Rosamund. I also enjoyed Carrie Coon as Nick’s twin sister. She was basically perfect in the role. Neil Patrick Harris could have easily been creepier, but he was wonderful in his role too. As for Tyler Perry’s turn as Nick’s lawyer… he was great. Seriously.
What I had mixed feelings about: Ben Affleck and how he dominated the story. Reading the book, Amy haunts the first half, an eerie specter watching over the events with her diary. The second half should have been full-on Amy too, where we see the real girl. But Nick Dunne was too busy telling his side of the story, and the whole film felt lop-sided because of it. Which isn’t to say that the Batfleck was bad. I only had a problem with him at the very beginning, when he felt miscast (to me), but then I was absorbed in the story and he did pretty well. At the end of the day, I still think he was miscast though… Nick needed to be younger than Amy and it threw off the whole marriage dynamic in the film. But Affleck should be proud of his work.
So, the question has already come up: will Gone Girl win any awards? Will it be rewarded with Oscar buzz? I thought Rosamund was perfect, as I said, but I think her potential Best Actress campaign will be hampered by the fact that it’s not Amy’s movie, it’s Nick’s movie. At an Oscar screening over the weekend, many Oscar voters felt the same way. The LA Times reports that while people enjoyed the film, no one is really buzzing about Rosamund:
Academy members we spoke to were fairly equally divided between devotees of the novel and those who came to the movie without any existing knowledge of the story — as much as that is possible given the scrutiny the film has received since premiering at the New York Film Festival last week.
“I didn’t want to know anything about the movie before I saw it, but I kept hearing people talking about Ben Affleck’s penis,” one academy member, a screenwriter, said. “Now I know why. It’s a more fully realized character here than the one Pike plays.”
That complaint was echoed by multiple academy members who had read the book and came away dissatisfied with the character balance in the adaptation.
“It probably couldn’t be helped,” one voter said, “because of the way the book alternates between her story and his. The movie, it’s mostly Affleck. You don’t hear enough of her voice, and it throws the whole thing off.”
“Gone Girl” screened for New York-based academy members Tuesday, with star Rosamund Pike interviewed afterward. There was no Q&A following Saturday’s screening at the Goldwyn. The audience clapped when the closing credits began to roll, but there was no applause when they finished. Contrasted to most movies that go on to win a best picture nomination, it was a rather subdued reaction, particularly given the buzz that was in the room when the film began.
The LAT goes on to quote people saying that they admired Fincher’s faithful adaptation (and seriously, a lot of the book ended up on the screen) and technical skill, but it’s just not a film you “love” and want to root for come awards season.
Two more notes and yes these are spoiler-y too. I missed seeing Desi’s mom. Her character was didn’t make it into the script and that was one of the characters from the book I really missed. And finally, everybody is talking about the ending, but really… it ended similarly to the book. With a whimper, not a bang. Unsettled but not terrified.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
It’s a sin, because the part of Amy should be Oscar nomination worthy. I have a feeling she won’t be nominated though, even though she should be. If this is what the Oscar folks are saying now, the studio is really going to have to push hard for that movie and the cast.
But they had no problem honoring Silence of the Lambs which was not a film to love and root for either. I saw the movie on Saturday and really liked it.
Silence Of The Lambs was one of those films where there was not one weak or slow moving moment at all.And every single actor was worthy of some sort of oscar.I saw this movie today and really loved it but it was no Silence Of The Lambs.Silence Of The Lambs was not a horror film but it disturbed you in the same way.This one didn’t.That was the difference between the two.
She will be nominated and it will be for best actress in a female lead. I don’t know why people are saying supporting. She was on screen far more than Sissy Spacek in The Bedroom Window, which was really a supporting role, and she was on screen more than Nicole Kidman for her Oscar movie, which was an ensemble cast with three strong female leads with their own stories. Yet, both won Oscars in the lead category, not supporting. Sissy’s was such a small role that I was shocked she was able to be nominated and win in that role instead of the Best Supporting category.
She was so likable in the first half of the film, and then boom, she just turns out so cold and bitchy! Pike plays the role great, she’s very believable and definitely Oscar-worthy. I didn’t like the ending much, because it didn’t seem that realistic to me. Everything else made sense in my opinion (especially the Amazing-Amy-thing). Oh, and I loved Tyler Perry!
The ending sucked.People were really disappointed.I am just thinking there will be a killer sequel.I didn’t read the book so I don’t know if it was meant to be this way.And Tyler Perry was amazing.
I don’t understand why people say the ending was underwhelming. I thought the ending was terrifiying, mentally and emotionally. Idk. I can’t really explain why, but it scared me.
Me, too. I felt the exact way. I had to go home and discuss it with my sister, who saw it the day before, and who had read the book and discuss Ben’s character and the ending part.
Also, that scene with his sister when she realizes he’s staying is brilliant.
Yes!!!! The scene with his sister. I have a little brother and that scene shook me.
The book makes the ending so much clearer, though, because you can hear his thoughts as well. He does want to stay. He is twistedly impressed (as much as the reader) with her sick genius and determination. They are perfect for each other. There can never be anyone else. The movie lost that and, in doing so, made Amy the “crazy bitch” instead of the murderous, obsessive, conditioned fully formed character she is in the book.
Carrie Coon was SO good!!!!
I loved the ending..because even after eveything that Amy did and Nick totally knowing about how much fucked up and psycho Amy can be, he still wants to be with her in some very twisted way..and this is very clear on that scene in the ending with his sister
thi86, I don’t think that he wants to be with her. She wants to be with him, that’s why she got back to him. He has no other choice than staying with her because of the baby, which I find unrealistic. But I think that he’s forced to stay with her and that is supposed to make us feel uncomfortable and shocked – that someone like Amy gets her way.
I completely agree. Most people seemed silent after the film because it was so dark. Applause would have felt bizarre.
Applause would have been REALLY weird..it’s not a feel good/triumph of the human spirit/love will prevail ending! it’s just not. It is an unnerving movie. You are supposed to be uncomfortable and feel a little queasy at the end.
I get alot of the arguments for those who read the book. I LOVED the book. Adapting is tough- It’s a different medium so some things stay and some things go to make it work.
That said-Pike was just INCREDIBLE. She should get a best actress nod. Coon should get a supporting nod. But I doubt that will happen. Pike might get a supporting nod..which is weird YES…but she likely has a better shot at winning in supporting. The politics of the Oscars are odd–but studios put people in slots where they think they have a shot. I don’t think she will win given the field this year…but she hit every note for Amy perfectly. She made the movie for me.
The whole cast was solid…top to bottom. I would love to see them win a best ensemble at the SAG awards.
I agree, statcat, I thought Pike was amazing! I really loved this film, it was good evil fun. I agree, I thought the cast was great, especially the sister and the cop.
It is nice to see such a variety of female characters all in one film (Amy, sister, cop, college student, ditzy neighbor, both female journalists, etc.).
I never know who im looking at from picture to picture with this lady…sometimes im all WHO? Sometimes im like She looks like the grey’s anatomy Lady sometimes im like is she old? Young? Whet?
Huh….I’m surprised by this news. I thought the Oscar buzz surrounding Pike was set in stone. Well, I guess we will see in the coming months.
I never read the book once I read it was being made into a movie. I wanted to go in knowing nothing. I only knew going in his wife died.
I thought Rosamund Pike did an excellent job. Ben did a great job also. I never knew whether he did it, didn’t, just didn’t give a shit, or just stupid or too charming. He kept me in the dark, which was good. I never saw it coming how evil she was. Everybody kept carrying on how Ben would want to sleep with the Blurred LInes girl. Too easy of a comment to make on here. Rosamund Pike is who he would have been drawn to on set. The Blurred LInes girl had like two brief scenes with him. He got to have sex with her, but he did with Rosamund too and had a lot of scenes with her where the chemistry was strong. And she’s beautiful in a unique way.
Both Rosamund and Ben did great with their dialogue off camera to the screen.
Great movie.
The sister really did a great acting job too. I can’t remember the actress’ name. The female detective also did a great job. And great honorable mention for Neil Patrick Harris.
I heard plenty of Rosamund’s character’s voice in the movie. It had to be set up the was it was, but I felt her strong throughout, even the beginning with all of the flashbacks back and forth. That kept her in the story from the beginning, not just missing.
Idk about the Oscar, all I can say that as soon as the movie began I couldn’t stop thinking that Rosamund was channeling shameless the Claire Underwood character Robin Wright plays in House of Cards. Many friends of mine agreed. Fincher has directed and produced House of Cards, so it makes sense he’s obsessed with this manipulative women. I think Robin Wright would have made a great Amy too, and maybe given Wright has the body of work and has been snubbed too many times could have been a sure bet for Oscar.
I really liked the movie, but I wanted more of Amy. I feel her part was a bit rushed. If you didn’t read the book, I don’t know if you would have a full grasp of her character’s mentality.
I am SO GLAD they kept the ending.
I couldn’t for the life of me envision the Amy character onscreen after reading the book. I thought Pike nailed it. Although I thought he was fine, I was slightly bored whenever Affleck was on screen. Pike and Carrie Coon, also a female lead in “The Leftovers,” are the discoveries of the year for me. Awards or not, can’t wait to see much more of them both!
She did a good job in the movie… and I honestly think she’ll be on the short list for a supporting Oscar nod this year (I saw her performance more in this category than in the lead category).
I agree with you, Kaiser… Amy’s side of the story wasn’t played up too much (after her deceit was revealed)… Affleck’s character dominated most of the story. I would have liked to see more of Amy’s crazy side… it almost seemed like the audience had to wait too long to really get to it and we only really got a handful of scenes in the end.
Even so… watching Gone Girl this weekend reminded me of how much I really do like Ben Affleck… he was on point as Nick in the movie (I thought it was a good choice to cast him in the role)… and his butt scene in the shower made me drool a bit. *wide smile*
I tried to read the book and hated it the way it was written, could not stand Amy or Nick, etc. But I thought it would make a much better film. It did. I saw it with some friends and all of our ratings were from good to wow. I was wowed by Rosamund. She nailed it. Fascinating movie character. Carrie Coon was wonderful. I kept thinking to myself that Ben Affleck wasn’t acting so much as living a version of his life on film. He and Nick seem quite similar.
I agree…Rosamund was was perfect as Amy and I thought Ben did really well as Nick but she really became Amy. I loved the movie!
I was pulled into the book but felt so ripped off at the end. I’d like to see the movie to rid myself of that feeling, I hope.
I hope so, because she’s the best thing in the movie by far. She absolutely dominates the film despite being somewhat relegated compared to the book, agree with Kaiser. Which isn’t to say I didn’t like the movie, but having only recently read the book it was still so vividly in my mind and I agree that the voice & essence of Amy weren’t 100% conveyed in the script – though Pike’s performance went a long way to correcting that, many of the shades of gray were missing for me. How Nick and Amy progressed from madly in love to where they ended up, while not exactly spelled out in the book, was more nuanced. It wasn’t just sweet fake Amy and then psycho b*tch Amy as the film showed (they kept enough passages from the book to make me not totally furious in her Amy’s alive montage though). And they really left out what an a** Nick could be aside from the cheating – I felt the film erred far too much on the side of Nick, and Affleck lacked much if any any of the spark or darkness that Nick was supposed to possess, he came off as more of a easily duped schlub. I didn’t like how they altered a couple of key scenes to make Amy less sympathetic, it wasn’t necessary. I did feel the denouement was nicely done, it drove home the ending in a more potent way than the book. If I had not read the book I would probably have enjoyed it more I guess which isn’t that surprising, I think it’s a decent enough film that it will get nominations, probably adapted screenplay, music, Pike really does deserve every credit though for managing to bring Amy to life despite the film’s somewhat limited portrayal of her. Pike is just a master, she is marvellous in this part and deserves many kudos.
I didn’t feel that way at all. I began to see what a self-absorbed guy he was and other sides to him. The author of the book wrote the screenplay. I thought she did a great job.
Many reviews of the movie think the movie is better than the book.
@Jayna (SPOILERS AHEAD sorry) I’m aware the author wrote the screenplay, and most of my favourite parts of the film were when they stuck to the book and memorable lines stood out. I don’t think it was a bad movie, I just think it fell short on a few counts in portraying the complexity of the psychodrama between Nick and Amy. I thought Ben was fine generally, but imo he wasn’t as charismatic as I pictured Nick. I do think they dulled the edges of his character and sharpened Amy’s psychotic moments (she did not kill Desi while he was awake in the book, or play act for cameras, or show up drenched in blood) to make her framing of him seem even worse than in the book. Not that Amy was angelic or not a sociopath, but her becoming who she was was somewhat less comprehensible in the film. For me, we all have a right to see things our own way. As for many reviews disagreeing with me, I don’t question anyone else’s right to view something how they please. I reserve the right to have found the book a more satisfying experience than the film, thanks just the same!
Oh she’ll definitely get nominated, probably won’t win though. Visit any oscar predictions page and she’s in the top five. The factor you’re not accounting for is that it’s been a very weak year for women and there’s not a lot of competition. Pike will be there, especially if the film continues to perform well and 20th Century Fox will likely push hard for her. The nominees will likely be, Julianne Moore (likely winner), Reese Witherspoon, Pike, Amy Adams and maybe Felicity Jones.
She’ll get a nomination and will be one of the frontrunners to win.
It looks like her hair colour is natural and the shade looks good.
She’s on a Fincher movie, you bet she will get a nom. She’s too cool to be Amy though. Amy’s supposed to be manipulative and evil not someone you want to root for.
My reaction after watching the movie was pretty much the same. I really enjoyed it, but felt there’s something missing that kept me from clapping by the end of the movie.
It’s too bad if Pike isn’t much in the Academy’s voters’ radar, because she was excellent. If you read critics, the very good majority give her praises and make special notice of her.
SPOILER HERE. I also think erasing Desi’s mom’s existence from the movie kind of makes Desi’s character not fully displayed. NPH did his best with what he had been given too, and perhaps more so because unfortunately his character wasn’t written well in the script (IMHO). I’d always pictured Tanner Bolt as a white man with an African American wife who actually trained Nick the PR skills, but it’s good they change it in the script (or maybe I was wrong?). Ben is a little too old for Nick, but otherwise I think he did a pretty good job
I agree about Tanner Bolt. I think Tyler Perry was actually really great (I typically cannot STAND him), but I do wish they had stayed true to the novel, and kept him as a white man with a black wife. As a black woman, that really surprised me, as it’s a pairing that is rarely seen, and I really would have liked to have seen it portrayed.
She should get a nomination! She was great in the movie! I loved the film although I feel like it could’ve ended where Nick whispered in her ear that she was a btch. Lol. I feel like the rest of scenes after that were unnecessary. Anyway, I think this movie is going to be nominated for best picture and she will get a best actress nom but won’t win.
I didn’t read the book but thought the movie was very, very good. I thought the casting was the best part. Affleck was perfect as the guy who could be a wonderful, handsome, charming, smart guy, but could just as easily be a lying douchebag killer, and could also just as easily be a stupid dupe who got fooled by a cunning woman and is a victim in life in general. Pike was a perfect Hitchcock blonde, cool and almost unreal, but then, like all Hitchcock blondes, she turns out to have a ton of secrets and is very very real after all.
I totally get what some book readers are saying about Amy not being the way she was in the book but that didn’t bother me at all (although I appreciate what some readers are saying about how it would have been more powerful, as a critique of gender roles, to see Amy as more of a “Cool Girl,” trying so hard to be down for anything her husband wanted, rather than a Hitchcock-ian icon of remote beauty).
The thing that made it a very good movie for me, instead of great, was the ending. The ending was inexplicable. I think the writer *could* have made it make more sense, but as it is, it made no sense to me. But everything up to that point was, for me, really excellently plotted and shot and played.
Given the dirth of good lead actress roles this year, I think she’ll be nominated. I think she did a great job. I sensed her character’s presence even in the scenes she wasn’t in. Like she was there pulling strings.
I loved the cat. The cat deserves a special Oscar.
My husband’s first comment: WTF with the cat! Second comment: the college girl is a terrible actress.
I loved that cat.
I also loved the cat. I was so afraid something bad was going to happen to it.
I’m not a fan of the book, despite being a fun read. I felt the same with the film, it was fun to watch, but not as big as some suggest it is.
I had some problems with the changes. Nick looked a little more like a victim than he seems in the book. I don’t understand the scene with his father, there is no importance of it in the movie. What was that? Just to say he has a father?
Amy parents became one-dimensional characters in the film.
The change in her visual was failure for me. As no one recognized her?
People laughed when she came up with the perfect haircut when she was at the home of Desi.
I loved Desi relationship with his mother in the book, and that in the end she would investigate what really happened between him and Amy. I don’t understand why she was cut from the movie. Actually it seemed, who is Desi? Who is this rich guy, he has no family, friends?
Talking about it, how no one recognized Desi with Amy in that bar after seeing that he was the killer ??
There are so many plot holes in this movie, I hope it will not be nominated for best adapted screenplay.
Kaiser, I think Ben Affleck was good, but he seemed try hard in many scenes, and for a guy who wouldn’t get to the gym and was seen eating crap, he looked in great shape.
I loved the performances of all women. They were the best thing in the movie.
I agree Desi was far too thinly drawn, the weird Mama’s boy element is integral to his character, the fact that she looks like Amy, etc. It wouldn’t have taken much to give a few lines to his Mom, I think he was simplified to make him seem less threatening. Agree about Nick’s Dad too, though the few scenes he was in did give us the gist he didn’t like women, they smoothed out a lot of Nick’s underlying self doubt about his own rage capabilities. He was supposed to lose weight with the strain of Amy’s disappearance, I thought he looked pretty podgy in general though which was true to the book. Nick has let himself go to seed, while Amy maintains the perfect exterior until her disappearance. The haircut was odd, maybe Desi was a dab hand with scissors! And perfect blonde can be achieved from a box lol! I agree the women were the best part, with Pike and Boney in particular being great. I liked Go but the weeping scene didn’t fit with the Go from the book as far as I remember. It felt like ladling on more sympathy for Nick, yawn.
I saw it this weekend, it was good up until the ending . It was sloppy, too many loose ends and they made the FBI look like smitten fanboys.
1. Why didn’t they question Amy’s driving all the way home instead of going to a nearby hospital or police station?
2. If there were cameras everywhere in Desi’s lake house, was there one in the bedroom? If so, was it disabled and if it was disabled why that one and not the rest?
3. If she was tied up the whole time while at the lake house, how did she get the box cutter, were her fingerprints the only ones on the box cutter?
4. The staged scene of her banging and screaming at the window for the cameras at the lake house; was she suppose to be alone screaming for help while Desi was gone. If she could get to the window hands untied, couldn’t she have broken the window, gotten to a door and left?
5. The so-called murder weapon supposedly used by Nick to kill Amy (the Punch and Judy missing club),. How did it end up in the fireplace instead of on the floor if she had it with her when she answered the door?
6. f the picture frames should have fallen off the mantle when they suspected Nick of staging a struggled by the fireplace, why didn’t they questioned Amy’s version of the EXACT same scenario during her kidnapping.
7. If Nick wasn’t the murderer how did the diary end up in the furnace at his dad’s house? The kidnapping was suppose to be an act of desperation on Desi’s part surely he would not have searched the house, found Amy’s diary, driven to Nick’s father’s house and placed it in the furnace.
The list could go on.
The movie was good right up until the end. Yes, the possibility of Nick having to live with this sociopath the rest of his life with a child was creepy and emotionally devastating. However, some routine police work would have picked her kidnapping story apart.
I told my friend after the movie that this film is about a couple who didn’t know how to communicate to each other. So there’s this complex web of fake stories, the media, and a poor dead man. Maybe the FBI being smitten fanboys was just a humorous satire on media manipulation. Well, I took it that way.
Yes, the whole movie was a satire of media manipulation. But they still could have tighten up the ending.
1. They were too eager to have her back. And she is now her own hero.
2. The cameras were not everywhere. They were at the entrances/exits of the house. Desi gives her access to the system, so she knows exactly where she will and will not be seen.
3. I don’t think she is pretending to be tied up the whole time, just part of it. Especially since she throws herself at the window after making it look like Desi attacked her, and gets that part on camera.
4. The point is not that she can leave. She is planting evidence against him.
5. When she is framing him, she is making it look like Nick put it there. Then claiming Desi did.
6. Because now it looks like Desi staged the scene to implicate Nick. That is her story for the police.
7. Amy put it there to implicate Nick. After she is found it really isn’t mentioned again. In the book, she still pretends Nick must have done it. At this point even the police know he hid evidence.
There are definitely loose ends in the film (they are in every film). But the majority of the ones that you list, are not among them.
” If she was tied up the whole time while at the lake house, how did she get the box cutter”
Nick asks this VERY question outside of the interrogation to which the cop (who doesn’t like him) says “can’t you just be happy your wife is alive”.
Mooney is the only one at the interrogation who really questions her..the feds (mostly men) all just sort of fawn over her and try to shoot Mooney’s questions down. Hence- what I took away- from it–Amy was the smartest one in the book/movie (twisted yes–but genuis).
I think Rosamund will get nominated. It would be terrible if she were to get snubbed. She was phenomenal. I was not impressed by Tyler Perry at all. They should have gone with a better actor. This was one of Ben’s better performances. Although I feel like the film made Nick out to be better person than the book did.
I was glad that Emily R. was not in that much of the film. she was a terrible actress.
Just saw this film yesterday. She was brilliant and definitely deserves a nom. I thought all the female actors stood out.
I agree. I was really happy to see the female cop, the sister, etc. in addition to Amy. They were all strong performances and I really enjoyed seeing “normal” looking women represented in film, even as supporting characters.
I’m going to see it tomorrow, and all I can say is that I’m super happy to see Rosamund Pike in a film I’m excited to watch. I always found her so beautiful and talented and wanted to see what she could do given the right part. So, yes; can’t wait.
I feel really alone in this opinion, but I hated the movie. I’ve read the book and it was a real suspenseful page turner for me. I expected that same feeling from the movie, but found that it trudged along at a snail’s pace. I almost fell asleep. I never fall asleep in movies. There was no tension whatsoever. I felt like the book just didn’t translate on the screen in a meaningful way in the least. My husband who hasn’t read the book agreed with me that it was a snoozefest. I honestly don’t get all the accolades for this movie. 90% of it was people sitting around chatting. The soundtrack was interesting and it seemed like they tried to create tension with it, but failed miserably. I’m like we’re looking at an aerial view of a truck stop, why the jangling tension music? I don’t understand… *readies for flames*
I agree the suspense was pretty loose for me in the first half especially – however I think having read the book and knowing approximately what comes next makes the viewer less impartial. The element of “what’s happening” is gone for us. I did think the build up to the reveal was very suspenseful, and when Amy appeared onscreen at the crucial moment there was an audible gasp in the theatre, then laughter – I was kind of sorry I knew it was coming at that moment. I saw it with my husband who really liked it, as everyone seemed to in the theatre.
I enjoyed another R-rated flick based on a mystery type thriller, Walk Among the Tombstones, the week before just as much as Gone Girl, but then I had LIam Neeson to stare at and listen to for a few hours. I might not be objective. LOL
I have been anxiously awaiting the chance to post about this. I remember a post just a bit ago about Ben personally requesting Emily R. for the role of Andie.
I have always rooted for Ben Affleck, but this, if in fact true, skeeves me the f*** out. Why did he choose Emily R. for this role if for no other reason than he wanted to be able to motorboat her breasts? She is no actress, and with the high profile nature of this film, I am sure there would be 100 better-suited, bigger names that would jump at the chance to have even that tiny role just for the exposure. Doesn’t it feel unethical and essentially equivalent to sexual harassment to hire someone just because you want to engage in sexual activity with them (which they have to do for their part in the film)? I guess I am just naïve, but this is just majorly gross if it is true.
You ask a very good question and yes, it is gross and unethical. That is Hollywood.
Rosamund was amazing. Her acting was honestly outstanding as Amy. The casting was spot-on.
Did anyone else get the irony of Sela Ward, the murdered wife from The Fugitive, asking Nick Dunne, “Did you kill your wife?”
The problem that I had with the book and the movie is that she befriended the girl in the Ozarks. I just thought that was a sloppy plot device to get her money stolen and didn’t fit in with Amy’s overall motives and actions.
I also really didn’t understand how Amy has this 180-degree turnaround when she sees Nick’s interview on TV. That seemed highly unlikely to me. However, she’s insane so maybe that logic baby goes out with the bath water. Who knows.
I didn’t like the book and couldn’t finish it and I thought the movie was really underwhelming. It was indeed sloppy in bits in my view, but also the story was just amoral. It’s not that we can’t show “bad” people or have loose-screw protagonists; it’s that there’s not a single redeeming character in the story that makes you care in the least about these people. Okay, so there’s violence. Okay, so Amy’s a psychopath. Okay, Desi’s very effed up. Okay, Nick’s a real d*ck in life and to his wife. So? And they weren’t that believable as characters. Personally I’m over these stories that are written simply to titillate and where you feel like you have to have a shower afterwards. I think we’re probably all desensitised to extreme violence and psychopathic characters etc that are supposedly “complex” and “interesting.” To me, Amy was a bit boring and not convincing as a character, though yeah, Rosamund was great as usual. I thought Ben was good too, but I don’t think his transition (from the nice guy to the cheating pri*ck) was done that well.
Rosamund Pike is phenomenal and her presence is breathtaking..David Fincher is back with another sucess. She should get a best actress nom, because she is the female lead.. and for me, she was the BEST part! Her name is having lots of Oscar buzz, i think for sure she will be nominated.
I don’t know if this is an Australian thing but I went to see this in a rather full cinema yesterday, and everyone in the audience seemed to like the film (there were a lot of middle aged couples there actually) and but we all laughed at it in several parts as if it were a satire or dark comedy, almost soap opera like. I couldn’t tell if it was just as an audience and I haven’t heard anyone else talking about laughing during it. And it wasn’t a mean laugh, I think we all enjoyed it!
There was a lot of laughter after the reveal and towards the end when I saw it. To me it didn’t feel like “we’re laughing at this because it’s bad”, but like “I don’t know where the h*ll this thing is going, it’s so unpredictable WTH?!” type laughter. Plus I do think Fincher kept it a bit lighter than the book which arguably makes for a more comfortable viewing experience. I think for people who hadn’t read the book the very essence of Pike acting the way Amy does was a genuine shock.
I just saw it this weekend (didn’t want to deal with the opening weekend crowds), and even more than Rosamund Pike getting nominated for an Oscar, I would love to see Carrie Coon get nominated for best supporting actress. She was amazing as Margo. Love her in The Leftovers too, she’s one of the best actors on that show.
I also agree about Desi’s mom, I was disappointed that character was left out.