Eastern Carolina Style

Seven, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are all spoken of as movies that are well worth seeing for their stories. All of them feature plotlines that appear to be straight-forward and otherwise uneventful when thought of in the scope of movies that have been made. What makes them different and noteworthy? The short answer… David Fincher calling the shots.

The last time we saw a movie directed by Fincher was back in 2011 when The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo made its big screen debut. Since that time, he has done a couple of TV endeavors and even a music video, but nothing truly worthy of his pedigree. That all changes now.

Fincher has brought another work of genius to the table for us all to marvel at and drool over. His newest offering, Gone Girl, is a wickedly smart adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s New York Times Best Seller of the same name. Gone Girl is the story of a relationship that goes bad in the worst possible way and how we as a society can hang onto the lies that reside in appearances and accept them as truth.

Some would say that making a movie from a novel as compelling and complicated as Gone Girl would not really translate well to the big screen. For one, the level of detail needed would be hard to capture on screen. Second, the complicated nature of the story would have to be confusing. Finally, the “twists” in the story are too widely known to really keep audiences engaged.

Fincher not only overcomes those issues, but he does it in a way that leaves you wanting more. Even after sitting through the full two and half hour runtime. His take on the “unreliable narration” that is so critical to the story is done in a way that will truly keep you guessing about what is real and what is not. Gone Girl is truly some of his very best work.

The cast of this soon to be classic consisted of Ben Affleck in the center-piece role of Nick Dunne with Rosamund Pike as his wife Amy. The supporting cast of Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon and Kim Dickens filled out a group of actors that all lived up to the hype that has surrounded this movie.

Seeing the performance that Affleck gives under the direction of Fincher makes you really question if that really is the same guy that starred in duds like; Jersey Girl, Gigli, Daredevil, and the many others that have poisoned his acting reputation.

As the story unfolds, Affleck goes from aloof, to incriminated, and even to victimized, all with a screen presence that has you really guessing about his character. The mystery surrounding Nick Dunne is masterfully held by Affleck all the way until the truth is fully revealed. The range of emotion that he demonstrates with his facial expressions alone gave me a new found appreciation for him. Affleck has to be considered one of the top contenders for the Best Performance awards during the upcoming awards season.

If Affleck is going to be given a nod for Best Performance, then Rosamund Pike has to also receive some serious consideration for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance was equal parts; sexy, demented, and endearing. She perfectly brought to life the character that Gillian Flynn introduced to us in the novel back in 2012.

Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris are both able to shed their more commonly known comedic characters of Madea and Barney to really contribute to the story in a meaningful way. Rarely can you say that an actor with less than 10 minutes of screen time can play a pivotal role, Perry and NPH can say it with pride.

Overall, during a time when superheroes and guys with “special sets of skills” seem to be filling up the theatres, it is very refreshing to see a movie, like Gone Girl, come along and be truly different. What this film brings to the table has been missing for quite a while, intelligence and originality. I can only hope that Hollywood will take a long hard look at what Flynn, Fincher and Affleck have done and do the best they can to follow-suit.