Gone Girl (2014), R, ★★★★

Oh no! Ben Affleck may be his wife's killer. 

It's strange that in Hollywood, it is always the husband that may be the main suspect behind a wife's death. The Fugitive, a paradigm for films like this, where Harrison Ford's character is the main suspect behind the death of his wife but he has to find out the truth. But, there are two different angles between these films. The Fugitive revolves around Dr. Richard Kimble and also Sam Gerard played by Tommy Lee Jones and it's a cat-and-mouse game to see what the real truth is. This movie does play at that angle but also we look at it from the personal side such as his marriage and the media's side. It's crazy in today's world. The movie explores in different territories and angles that it is intriguing and it's 2-and-a-half hour length zips by because we are entranced by this mystery.

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) is a writer who goes to a bar who co-owns with his sister, Margo (Carrie Coon). It's the day of his and Amy's (Rosamund Pike) 5th wedding anniversary and seeming distraught, he does not want to arrive home. Later, Nick returns home to see his cat and to see a table flipped over and broken glass. He notices that Amy is not home and screams her name, getting the neighbor's attention.

Amy's disappearance causes a frenzy in the media outlets and the news is popular. Nick calls the police and Detective Rhonda Boney and Officer Jim Gilpin (Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit) arrive and inspect the place. Rhonda notices a blood smear on a table also both detectives notice a wall with pictures of "Amazing Amy" which her parents had written about her. Rhonda comments that she loves the books regarding "Amazing Amy" and is surprised that she is married to Nick. We also see flashbacks of Nick and Amy first meet each other, falling in love and getting married, and the downfall and struggles of their marriage.

Nick is brought into the police station for questioning. Rhonda and Jim notice him seeming indifferent and not knowing whether or not Amy has friends or her blood type. When all this heat is in the air and police keep inspecting his home, Nick goes to stay with Margo until it all clears off. When Amy's parents fly in from New York to give a press conference, Nick is emotionless when he is asking people around and when he surprisingly smiles next to a poster of Amy, he makes himself look bad. Now, the media is going to ravage him especially, Ellen Abbott (Missi Pyle) who centers him as an "unempathetic sociopath". She's like a Nancy Grace type of personality.

Nick being questioned by Amy's parents and the police.

This movie is very tricky to review because I cannot reveal certain characters' demises and the turning point of the investigation associating Amy's disappearance. However, what makes the film work is how we view a certain news story as a debate between what really happened and our opinions regarding what happened between Amy and Nick based on evidence and Nick's appearance. It is not as cold and disturbing as it might seem because when the mystery ravels, the movie becomes a bit humorous and off-color but it sells because the entire investigation gets in everybody's head. Everybody got tired of the media's publicity regarding Amy's disappearance.

Ben Affleck gives one of his best performances of his career as an isolated man with empathy but shows them in weird but also dissatisfying ways such as smiling next to the poster or having sex with a young woman named Andie (Emily Ratajkowski). He seems confused. Rosamund Pike is remarkable as the disturbing wife. She is quiet and mysterious like a main female character in an Alfred Hitchcock film. The supporting roles are well-cast: Kim Dickens, Scoot McNairy, Carrie Coon, Patrick Fugit, Neil Patrick Harris as Amy's ex-boyfriend and out of all people, Tyler Perry as Nick's lawyer. Finally, Perry finds a good role that is suitable to show his natural talents on-screen.

David Fincher, the director of the is movie, is the modern director of suspense and crime that he tantalizes you with clues, interesting characters, precise and foreshadowed dialogue that may come up or not in the end. His films regarding in tone are dark where he shows the depressing ways of certain factors of life. Se7en shows a more depressing world of crime, The Game shows a depressing world of someone's life, The Social Network shows a depressing world of friendship and also, social media. The film shows a depressing world of marriage.  His common theme is depression in characters. Either way, it is unpredictable to say whether or not when the story unfolds if any character will make it in the end. That is why he is one of my favorite directors right now.

Even though it is thrilling and dark in certain scenes, the movie is also quite darkly hilarious into witnessing what media is saying about Nick Dunne. That factor is a certain affirmation of the modern world of technology. David Fincher's style matches Gillian Flynn's, the author, style like a glove. It captures the foreboding ambiguity with elements of dishonesty and domestic life into a strong film full of sensational performances. Is it Oscar caliber? Maybe. The cinematography is haunting, the music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross supports the tone well, and the acting cannot get more better.

With his last five movies including this one: Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and this one. I would rank this third because even though this is a great film, it is not as masterful as The Social Network and not as scary as Zodiac but it is more fun than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and more well-paced and unpredictable than Benjamin Button. Even though I do not like films regarding struggling marriages and affairs such as the overrated Fatal Attraction and Disclosure, this is the right movie to watch about it because it is more complex than both of those films. It is a brilliantly entertaining film.

****