tabuno
11-01-2014, 03:05 AM
I suspect why this movie is getting rave reviews and good box office
turnout is due to its sustained measured suspense as a dramatic thriller
where the who done it element becomes convoluted and layered with great
emotional intensity as the audience is seemingly and subtly manipulated
throughout the movie as to Ben Affleck's character and the apparent absence
and presumed demise of his wife. Things become extraordinarily complicated
that gives the audience a continuous shot of neurological brain transmitters
of titillating endorphins.
One other pertinent fact that impacts my own personal experience watching
this movie is that living in Utah where Susan Powell disappeared who
lived in West Valley City, Utah and whose body was never been found and Josh
Powell, her husband, was suspected in her disappearance and who later
killed himself along with their two children. There were many parallels
between this real event and Gone Girl.
But perhaps I am getting old; and watching this movie I'm reminded of
Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in The War of the Roses (1989). If
the movie had stopped two-thirds of the way through the movie with the
first major twist, I might have really enjoyed this movie in its
totality, but it continued with this odd twist that seemed like a guise
for greatest as a film. Needlessly the audience is forced to watch a
rather predictable sequence of events that seem creatively amazing but
somehow it just seems tacked on with the appearance of genius. I can
understand why this movie would seem innovative and offer up some new
revelation of the human psyche not see before on the big screen.
Perhaps its just I was unfortunately lucky to begin to put the pieces
of this mystery thriller together too soon, but this overly long, in
places overly slow paced movie became too predictable, foreshadowing
its scenes and the ending. For awhile the plot and characters were
fascinating, the plot intriguing but eventually, the movie just seemed
very good. Others might conclude this movie portrays a rather unique,
albeit rarely seen complex characters who diverge from the ordinary two
dimensional personas. While this might be true, there is something
off-balance but not in aesthetic way, but detracting way.
What David Fincher is striving for is one of the most difficult
achievements in film directing. His effort is commendable, if somewhat
unsatisfying for me. If the movie had been shot in the style and tone
of say cerebral spy thriller The Russia House (1990) or Ben Affleck's
The Sum of All Fears (2002), Gone Girl would have come across more in
keeping with the icy, frigid psychologically tension and dramatic tone
of the theme of the movie. One of the best examples of this conflicted
tone might be Brad Pitt's character and performance as scripted in
Interview with A Vampire (1995) or his scripted performance in the
dramatic crime thriller Killing Them Softly (2012) or even Nicholas
Cages scripted portrayal in The Weatherman (2005) or Daniel Day-Lewis
in the drama filled There Will Be Blood (2007). Even the classic bitter
sweet relational drama and alcohol-riddled theme of The Days of Wine
and Roses (1962) has the oil and water imbalance that however is
deliciously sweet and sour tone that this movie might have been well to
have captured. Or take Nicole Kidman's harsh but memorable role in
Margot at the Wedding (2007) or her role in Dogville (2004) or what
happened to Brad Pitt in the superb mystery crime thriller Se7en
(1995).
Other edgy movie themed and uneasy but dramatic riveting movies that
capture the paradoxical tone of beautiful ugliness include William H.
Macy in Edmond (2006), Sam Rockwell's fascinating character in
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), the dysfunctional family of
American Beauty (2000), or Tom Cruise in Collateral (2004) even whose
title is reflective of the dissonance of a battle where innocence is
destroyed. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in director Stanley Kubrick
seemed to capture both the cinematic beauty and the uneasy alliance
between the unusual, fantastic in an artful and sinfully beautiful way
with characters that sometimes lack in moral turpitude in his Eyes Wide
Shut (1999) or take the sociological business war with its incumbent
cold calculating businessmen of The Social Network (2010). Even Leo
DeCaprio seemed to capture the decadent attractive sleaze character in
The Great Gatsby (2013) or his performance as Howard Hughes in The
Aviator (2004). What seems to be missing is the more balanced
background of the development of the relationship, a better visceral
sense of the characters as they evolve which is conveniently missing
during the movie, except with deliberate shocking sometimes
unflattering flashbacks which was seemingly achieved with one character
played by Christian Slater in He Was A Quiet Man (2007). The real fault
in this very difficult film is that absence of the depiction of the
behind the scenes of the false facades and the real persona essences of
which even the characters themselves are unaware so as to reveal the
hidden pane in Johari Window.
turnout is due to its sustained measured suspense as a dramatic thriller
where the who done it element becomes convoluted and layered with great
emotional intensity as the audience is seemingly and subtly manipulated
throughout the movie as to Ben Affleck's character and the apparent absence
and presumed demise of his wife. Things become extraordinarily complicated
that gives the audience a continuous shot of neurological brain transmitters
of titillating endorphins.
One other pertinent fact that impacts my own personal experience watching
this movie is that living in Utah where Susan Powell disappeared who
lived in West Valley City, Utah and whose body was never been found and Josh
Powell, her husband, was suspected in her disappearance and who later
killed himself along with their two children. There were many parallels
between this real event and Gone Girl.
But perhaps I am getting old; and watching this movie I'm reminded of
Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in The War of the Roses (1989). If
the movie had stopped two-thirds of the way through the movie with the
first major twist, I might have really enjoyed this movie in its
totality, but it continued with this odd twist that seemed like a guise
for greatest as a film. Needlessly the audience is forced to watch a
rather predictable sequence of events that seem creatively amazing but
somehow it just seems tacked on with the appearance of genius. I can
understand why this movie would seem innovative and offer up some new
revelation of the human psyche not see before on the big screen.
Perhaps its just I was unfortunately lucky to begin to put the pieces
of this mystery thriller together too soon, but this overly long, in
places overly slow paced movie became too predictable, foreshadowing
its scenes and the ending. For awhile the plot and characters were
fascinating, the plot intriguing but eventually, the movie just seemed
very good. Others might conclude this movie portrays a rather unique,
albeit rarely seen complex characters who diverge from the ordinary two
dimensional personas. While this might be true, there is something
off-balance but not in aesthetic way, but detracting way.
What David Fincher is striving for is one of the most difficult
achievements in film directing. His effort is commendable, if somewhat
unsatisfying for me. If the movie had been shot in the style and tone
of say cerebral spy thriller The Russia House (1990) or Ben Affleck's
The Sum of All Fears (2002), Gone Girl would have come across more in
keeping with the icy, frigid psychologically tension and dramatic tone
of the theme of the movie. One of the best examples of this conflicted
tone might be Brad Pitt's character and performance as scripted in
Interview with A Vampire (1995) or his scripted performance in the
dramatic crime thriller Killing Them Softly (2012) or even Nicholas
Cages scripted portrayal in The Weatherman (2005) or Daniel Day-Lewis
in the drama filled There Will Be Blood (2007). Even the classic bitter
sweet relational drama and alcohol-riddled theme of The Days of Wine
and Roses (1962) has the oil and water imbalance that however is
deliciously sweet and sour tone that this movie might have been well to
have captured. Or take Nicole Kidman's harsh but memorable role in
Margot at the Wedding (2007) or her role in Dogville (2004) or what
happened to Brad Pitt in the superb mystery crime thriller Se7en
(1995).
Other edgy movie themed and uneasy but dramatic riveting movies that
capture the paradoxical tone of beautiful ugliness include William H.
Macy in Edmond (2006), Sam Rockwell's fascinating character in
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), the dysfunctional family of
American Beauty (2000), or Tom Cruise in Collateral (2004) even whose
title is reflective of the dissonance of a battle where innocence is
destroyed. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in director Stanley Kubrick
seemed to capture both the cinematic beauty and the uneasy alliance
between the unusual, fantastic in an artful and sinfully beautiful way
with characters that sometimes lack in moral turpitude in his Eyes Wide
Shut (1999) or take the sociological business war with its incumbent
cold calculating businessmen of The Social Network (2010). Even Leo
DeCaprio seemed to capture the decadent attractive sleaze character in
The Great Gatsby (2013) or his performance as Howard Hughes in The
Aviator (2004). What seems to be missing is the more balanced
background of the development of the relationship, a better visceral
sense of the characters as they evolve which is conveniently missing
during the movie, except with deliberate shocking sometimes
unflattering flashbacks which was seemingly achieved with one character
played by Christian Slater in He Was A Quiet Man (2007). The real fault
in this very difficult film is that absence of the depiction of the
behind the scenes of the false facades and the real persona essences of
which even the characters themselves are unaware so as to reveal the
hidden pane in Johari Window.