David Fincher is a director with a strong reputation in Hollywood and the moviegoing community, both as a master filmmaker and a meticulous craftsman. His talent for taking dark stories and making them engaging and talked about cinematic fare is rarely matched, though often emulated by his peers. Movies like SE7EN, FIGHT CLUB, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON and THE SOCIAL NETWORK are considered by many to be masterpieces, and the first two are still celebrated greatly even decades after their initial release. In the past few years he’s given us the American version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO in theaters and HOUSE OF CARDS through Netflix. His newest big screen effort is the adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s popular novel of the same name, the murder mystery GONE GIRL.

The story introduces us to Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), a couple we learn met at a party and fell immediately in love, finding what seemed like perfection in each other. Nick was a failing writer for a men’s magazine, and Amy the subject of a series of wildly popular books released by her parents, which used her failings as a daughter as influence for oppositely-styled stories – in other words, if young Amy failed in a sport, fictional “Amazing Amy” became a star with that same sport. After being married for five years and on the day of their anniversary, Nick comes home from a bar he owns (called “The Bar”) to find Amy gone, signs of some sort of struggle, and little more to go on. He calls the police, who arrive in the form of Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) and Officer Jim Gilpin (Patrick Fugit), and question not only the supposed scenario but Nick himself. After a press conference in which Mr. Dunne seems a little too calm and collected, people start to question whether or not he may have had something to do with her disappearance. Nick’s only confidant is his twin sister Margo (Carrie Coon), who loves and trusts her brother, but soon realizes even she doesn’t know ‘everything’ about him. Through a series of testimonies to the police, and various recounts, Nick narrates the events leading up to Amy’s disappearance for the audience… but his is only one side of the story.

It’s hard to talk about a film (or book) like GONE GIRL without running the risk of giving away too much detail, as there’s so much more going on than what you think you’re in for. The synopsis I gave above is literally just scratching the surface. Gillian Flynn even wrote the screenplay, mostly as a way of putting fans of the novel at ease. The layered story is complex and engaging, though a little disjointed in parts. This is one of those tales you could unravel pretty easily if you started tugging at threads. But the overall ride is mostly fun and surprising. You may think you’ve got it all figured out, then something happens that really shocks you and makes you reconsider everything you’ve seen. Fincher, typically known for his bleak storytelling, has an unusual amount of fun here. There’s even quite a few unexpected moments of comedy throughout the story, which isn’t one you’d expect to contain laughs.

Ben Affleck seems to get a bad wrap as an actor, perhaps due to a series of what many considered “poor” career choices as he rose to fame. Oddly, people seem to forget most of his recent work has been pretty excellent. THE TOWN and ARGO are both stellar performances, and he’s probably the best thing about Terrence Malick’s TO THE WONDER. Here he plays the seemingly naive husband that may or may not know more than what he’s letting on. It’s a subdued performance, but effective, and in the hands of Fincher he looks and feels very natural and honest in his role.

There’s also strong supporting performances from Kim Dickens as the cautious police detective, Carrie Coon as Nick’s put upon twin sister who wants desperately to help her brother, Neil Patrick Harris as Amy’s slightly creepy ex-boyfriend, and Tyler Perry as a smart celebrity lawyer the likes of Johnny Cochran. The wonderful Missi Pyle plays a Nancy Grace-type sensationalist news host with perfection, and also look for a short-but-sweet appearance by the criminally underrated Scoot McNairy who plays yet another man from Amy’s past.

But make no mistake, there is one big standout star of this piece and that’s Rosamund Pike. Most remember her hitting the Hollywood scene a little over a decade ago in Pierce Brosnan’s last Bond film DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002). Through the years she’s starred in supporting roles in films like SURROGATES, JACK REACHER and THE WORLD’S END, and last week’s HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS. But this should absolutely be the breakout role she deserves, as she shines in a big way in what may be called the most fearless female performance of the year. Pike shows vulnerability, strength, and what some might call pure evil in select moments, but it’s always a reading that keeps us guessing… and it’s brilliant. This is one of those moments where you’re watching a performer you’ve seen countless times, but feel like you’re witnessing them do something amazing for the very first time, it’s just so incredibly good. This is the kind of performance that Best Actress awards are made for.

All that said, GONE GIRL isn’t one of David Fincher’s best films by a long shot. With a running time of two and a half hours, the pacing is very erratic, with some scenes feeling severely rushed and other scenes dragging at a snail’s pace. There’s so much story crammed into the screenplay that it almost feels like information overload. It’s never boring, but it has moments of being annoying just in terms of structure. The overall presentation is pretty solid and slick, as one would expect from a Fincher film, but the ending seemed to leave a lot to be desired for our screening audience. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard groaning at the end of David Fincher movie, but I heard it here, the kind of groaning the signified a lack of satisfaction. Is that the fault of Fincher or Flynn? Hard to say, though it’s sometimes said what works on the page doesn’t always work on the stage. Personally I liked the film, and I imagine I’ll recommend it to friends, but if I’m being honest it’s not a movie I can imagine wanting to watch again very soon. Unlike FIGHT CLUB, which is fun to revisit on just about any occasion, GONE GIRL is more of a one-time experience. I liken it to THE GAME, another Fincher effort I enjoyed the first time I saw it, but found a bit tedious on repeat viewings. Fans of the novel by Flynn will respect how loyal many of the scenes are to the source material, but the average moviegoer may leave a little more frustrated than one might expect.

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