FILM REVIEW: 'Gone Girl'

Director David Fincher has a reputation for making uncomfortable films ("Se7en," "Fight Club") that lure you into their underbellies. His new sinister thriller, "Gone Girl," is another deliciously disturbing piece of filmmaking guaranteed to perversely please.

Based on Gillian Flynn's (who scripts) blockbuster novel, the film asks: how well do you really know your partner? Five years into their marriage, Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) come to the realization that they don't like one another. On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick comes home to find a shattered glass coffee table, overturned furniture and Amy missing. The police find blood.

Of course, they immediately suspect foul play on Nick's part. The media frenzy is fast and furious as they paint Nick about as unflustered as Scott Peterson (the guy who killed his pregnant wife in 2004).
Handwritten clues begin to pop up penned by Amy. Seems they liked to play games, one of which was "treasure hunt" on their anniversaries. It's not looking good for Nick.

Voice-overs by Amy pull the story in one direction as Nick's proclamations of innocence push it in another. Is Amy dead or is she just gone? Is Nick being set up or is he hiding something? To go any further would constitute unfair spoiling.

"Gone Girl" skillfully presses all the right buttons via brilliant direction and casting. Oscar winner Ben Affleck ("Argo") has never been better. And Rosamund Pike's daring performance will certainly catapult her from solid supporting roles ("An Education," "Fracture") to A-lister. Carrie Coon's (HBO's "The Leftovers") portrayal of Nick's loyal twin sister is also the stuff of career altering. Even Tyler Perry shines as a "Johnnie Cochran" type attorney who represents Nick.

"Gone Girl" keeps the audience guessing at every turn. We're kept on the edge of our seats until the very last frame. Fincher has managed to accomplish an amazing feat — that of wishing the story would never end. Bravo.