GONE GIRL

Religiously faithful to Gillian Flynn’s stunningly successful novel; an unmatched character study of an initially enviable relationship gone haywire; succinctly directed and cast, even those familiar with the book will be drawn into the labyrinth of irreducible intrigue.

David Fincher scores again (“The Social Network”, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) with a scenario, pervasively known, blessing it with layers of intensity, intimacy and obfuscation; gone is the fugue of inevitability, replaced by creatively cunning transitions; the sinister is masked by the serenely beautiful cinematography.

Plaudits should be heaped upon Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike for their instinctively credible interpretations of “Nick and Amy Dunne”; Fincher and Flynn’s prescience in casting the two should also be lauded. I have always liked Ben Affleck (even in the disastrous “Pearl Harbor”, he piqued my curiosity); he has reached an acting pinnacle with his portrayal of the befuddled, naive and clueless “Nick”; a writer of seemingly interminable “writer’s block”; losing his job in New York, he and “Amy” move to his ancestral home, North Cartage, MO.;  the fissure in Amy and Nick’s marriage becomes cavernous, resulting in “gone girl”.

“Amy”, whose life has been romantically, sensationally scripted by her parents in a series of books titled “Amazing Amy”, is Harvard -educated, whimsically lovely, inscrutable; each anniversary revolves around a treasure hunt, cleverly -crafted by our enigmatic heroine; her gravitas, a confounding element resonating in each clue.   Rosamund Pike, no longer lingering under a film lovers radar screen (“An Education”,“Jack Reacher”, “Hector and the Search for Happiness”) is a pulsating phenomena as the problematically- driven harridan;  Pike imbues Amy with an unnerving, undefined malaise (possibly Flynn’s intention) capturing the alluring countenance of a deceiving minx; she is glorious.

“Gone Girl” questions the “guts” of relationships; petty untruths, lies of convenience; impossibility of unveiling or revealing sacrosanct secrets; secrets kept by all, safe in the locked closets of memories; memories never, ever to be shared.

FOUR STARS!!!!

Peneflix