One of the most popular and critically acclaimed novels in recent memory is adapted for the big screen by the author, given to prolific director, David Fincher, to helm, and finds the perfect leading man in Superman, Ben Affleck. Recipe for a great film, right?
I tend to take a contrarian view on all things pop culture. I don't do it on purpose. Sometimes I think my brain just works completely differently than everyone else's. Because I am often drawn to different books, music, tv shows, and films than the masses, I have earned a reputation of "not liking anything." In reality, I like a lot of stuff...it's just usually different from what YOU like. This is again the case with "Gone Girl."
The novel certainly had its bright spots, particularly a chillingly cynical take on relationships. But, what started out relatively strong, collapsed into a ludicrous mess in the second half. So, when chatter started about the upcoming film, and the producers, the author, and everyone else involved in the project went out of their way to exclaim how the movie was going to be different from the book, I was intrigued. Maybe Gillian Flynn got some constructive feedback that led her to alter some of the weaker points of the novel. It's not often that an author writes the film adaptation for his or her own book, so I was curious how this would turn out. Maybe this could be one of those rare instances where the movie actually IS better than the book? Ha ha...joke's on me.
Different from the book? I felt like Flynn literally XEROXED the pages of her novel. There wasn't a single, solitary change. Not one different twist...barely a different word spoken in the entire film. In fact, amongst all the talk of Rosamund Pike being a lock for Best Actress, I seriously thought she was reading right off the pages of the book and they just digitally edited it out of the picture. If anyone deserves a nomination, it's Affleck. He was phenomenal. But once again, I see everything completely differently from everyone else. Pike's performance, to me, was one of the most wooden I've seen in a long time. I REALLY felt like she was reading straight out of the book. The parts of the book that were the most boring (Amy's diary entries) were also the most boring here. The ending, being identical to that of the book's, was equally as inane. But, what makes me the maddest, is the transparent ploy by the filmmakers to draw people in to see the film...by making the absurd claim that the movie's story would be different than that in the novel. What an epic load of horseshit. This was clearly a ruse to make sure that people who read the book would feel like there would still be something suspenseful about seeing the film. So many people loved the book, so why lie? Then people like me, who did NOT enjoy the book, would have saved their $12 and not gone to see the film. Was "Gone Girl" the worst book ever written? No. Was this the worst movie ever? No. But, the blatant dishonesty leads me to grade the film as if it were. I give it an F. For "Fucking Lie." I will never read anything by Gillian Flynn again, and I'll have to consider very strongly whether to ever see anything by Fincher again either. Affleck gets a pass due to his strong performance. What a waste.
