I’m going to be honest, I really liked the start of this movie, two writers falling in love in a cloud of romance couldn't be any sweeter. I spent the first twenty minutes falling in love with Amazing Amy as she tells of how she fell in love with Nick Dunne, but as the story develops cracks appear in the relationship and it’s difficult to tell where our allegiance lies, which is why we get caught up in the initial media frenzy that the movie pulls off so well.
At the turning point we find Nick Dunne is just another washed up writer in a bar downtown, his relationship is under some serious stress and we wonder if these two can make it. Then disaster strikes as Nick comes home to find a coffee table turned over in the living room. He immediately suspects something is wrong, unemployed Amy would have had all day to clean that up, best call the police.
I've never had cops over to the house after I’ve reported someone missing but I think I’d be pretty perturbed if they suddenly left little post it notes all about the place saying ‘check this shit out’ ‘forensics need to see this’ ‘definitely evidence’ ‘blood all over the kitchen’.
Nick doesn't mind though, just happy to help out as he entangles himself further by leading the police from one clue to the next. Quick interview with the prime suspect and we learn that he doesn't know his wife that well at all, how did these two ever get married? Does Nick even love Amy? Has he ever loved her?
The best part of the thriller is wondering if Nick has something to do with his wife’s disappearance, but the film never really convinces us of his malice, in fact the movie lacks a real villain in that sense.
By that I mean the movie never really delivers an act of evil that we can use to identify the sinister criminal, the rat, the bad guy – we never get that feeling of fear where our skin crawls with discomfort. Instead we get a psychotic house wife, a cheating husband, a cop that can’t solve a crime, a teenage girl that can’t pass her exams, a sister that can’t find a husband (or a friend outside of her family), a good looking rich guy who can’t find a girlfriend, two parents who can’t find their daughter (no not the McCanns), a lawyer who can’t find a case, two mentioned marines who never find anything, a drug lord that can’t find a gun, a news anchor who can’t find more than the one news story, a Father who’s lost his mind, and a movie that loses the run of itself.
I can’t understand why this movie tries to continuously get clever with itself instead of developing one plot at a time, usually a thriller tries to play mind games with the audience by slowly building cliff hangers but this is a movie too busy trying to play mind games with itself, it moves too quickly from scene to scene in an easily explained and convenient fashion, without capturing the imagination of the viewer. It mostly just gets boring and refuses to end. Alright we get it, you’ve had a few bad relationships, let’s all just be friends again. Ultimately the film is just too Ben Afleck, sure it tries to be bold but it’s just not cut throat enough to make it off the bottom shelf.
Spoilers include :
Why wait to get out of the hospital to have a shower?
Surely divorce would have been a better option?
Why not get search warrants straight away?
Why is there only one suspect in a murder investigation?
At the turning point we find Nick Dunne is just another washed up writer in a bar downtown, his relationship is under some serious stress and we wonder if these two can make it. Then disaster strikes as Nick comes home to find a coffee table turned over in the living room. He immediately suspects something is wrong, unemployed Amy would have had all day to clean that up, best call the police.
I've never had cops over to the house after I’ve reported someone missing but I think I’d be pretty perturbed if they suddenly left little post it notes all about the place saying ‘check this shit out’ ‘forensics need to see this’ ‘definitely evidence’ ‘blood all over the kitchen’.
Nick doesn't mind though, just happy to help out as he entangles himself further by leading the police from one clue to the next. Quick interview with the prime suspect and we learn that he doesn't know his wife that well at all, how did these two ever get married? Does Nick even love Amy? Has he ever loved her?
The best part of the thriller is wondering if Nick has something to do with his wife’s disappearance, but the film never really convinces us of his malice, in fact the movie lacks a real villain in that sense.
By that I mean the movie never really delivers an act of evil that we can use to identify the sinister criminal, the rat, the bad guy – we never get that feeling of fear where our skin crawls with discomfort. Instead we get a psychotic house wife, a cheating husband, a cop that can’t solve a crime, a teenage girl that can’t pass her exams, a sister that can’t find a husband (or a friend outside of her family), a good looking rich guy who can’t find a girlfriend, two parents who can’t find their daughter (no not the McCanns), a lawyer who can’t find a case, two mentioned marines who never find anything, a drug lord that can’t find a gun, a news anchor who can’t find more than the one news story, a Father who’s lost his mind, and a movie that loses the run of itself.
I can’t understand why this movie tries to continuously get clever with itself instead of developing one plot at a time, usually a thriller tries to play mind games with the audience by slowly building cliff hangers but this is a movie too busy trying to play mind games with itself, it moves too quickly from scene to scene in an easily explained and convenient fashion, without capturing the imagination of the viewer. It mostly just gets boring and refuses to end. Alright we get it, you’ve had a few bad relationships, let’s all just be friends again. Ultimately the film is just too Ben Afleck, sure it tries to be bold but it’s just not cut throat enough to make it off the bottom shelf.
Spoilers include :
Why wait to get out of the hospital to have a shower?
Surely divorce would have been a better option?
Why not get search warrants straight away?
Why is there only one suspect in a murder investigation?
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