Gone Girl is a 2014 American psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Gillian Flynn, based on her 2012 novel. It stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Carrie Coon in her film debut. Affleck plays Nick Dunne, a writing teacher who becomes the prime suspect following the disappearance of his wife, Amy (Pike), in Missouri.
Gone Girl premiered as the opening film at the 52nd New York Film Festival on September 26, 2014, and was theatrically released in the US on October 3, 2014, by 20th Century Fox. It received positive reviews and grossed $370 million worldwide. It became Fincher's highest-grossing film and is considered a postmodern mystery. Pike was nominated for awards including Best Actress from the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild.
Plot On their fifth anniversary, writing teacher Nick Dunne returns home to find that his wife, Amy, is missing. Amy's fame as the inspiration for her parents' Amazing Amy children's books ensures widespread press coverage. The media finds Nick's apathy towards the disappearance suspicious.
Before her disappearance, Nick and Amy's marriage deteriorated. Both lost their jobs in the recession and moved from New York to Nick's hometown in Missouri to support his dying mother. Nick grew distant from Amy and began an affair with his student Andie, while Amy became resentful toward Nick.
Detective Rhonda Boney and the forensic team find evidence of a struggle and blood loss in the house. Boney learns of the couple's financial problems, disputes, and Amy's attempt to buy a gun. Medical reports indicate that Amy was pregnant, of which Nick denies knowledge.
On each anniversary, Amy sets up elaborate treasure hunts for Nick. This year's clues appear in places where Nick had sex with Andie, revealing Amy's knowledge of his affair. Nick discovers thousands of dollars' worth of items purchased with his credit card, unauthorized and hidden in his sister Margo's woodshed. Amy's clues lead authorities to a diary documenting her growing fear that Nick will kill her.
Amy hides in a campground in the Ozarks. After discovering Nick's affair, Amy conceived an elaborate plan to frame him for her murder. She had him increase her life insurance, secretly used his credit card to buy the woodshed items, stole a sample of her pregnant neighbor's urine to fake a pregnancy to elicit media sympathy, wrote increasingly fabricated diary entries and placed incriminating evidence for police to find. On the morning of her disappearance, Amy drained and splattered her own blood across the kitchen. Her original plan was to drown herself after Nick's arrest and have her body found to ensure his death sentence.
Nick deduces Amy's scheme, convinces Margo of his innocence, and hires lawyer Tanner Bolt, known for representing husbands suspected of uxoricide. Nick meets two of Amy's ex-boyfriends. Tommy O'Hara claims that she framed him for rape and ruined his life after they broke up. The wealthy Desi Collings, against whom Amy filed a restraining order for stalking, rejects Nick.
When Amy's campground neighbors rob her, she calls Desi for help, convincing him that she fled Nick's abuse. Desi agrees to hide her in his lakehouse. Bolt convinces Nick to admit to his affair on a popular talk show, thus seizing the narrative initiative from the media. Andie reveals the affair at a press conference shortly beforehand, but Nick insists on conducting the interview. He affirms his innocence and feigns regret for his shortcomings as a spouse, knowing that Amy is watching.
The interview garners widespread sympathy for Nick. However, Boney, having gathered adequate evidence, arrests Nick and Margo. Bolt bails them out, and they brace for the impending trial. After watching Nick's interview, Amy rekindles her attraction to him and begins crafting her escape story. Using surveillance cameras and self-inflicted injuries, she makes it appear that Desi kidnapped and raped her. She seduces Desi, slits his throat during sex, and returns home, clearing Nick of suspicion.
Medical examiners lend credence to Amy's story. During questioning, Boney probes her inconsistencies, but Amy accuses Boney of incompetence. The FBI closes the case, but Boney gleans Amy's guilt. At home, Amy tells Nick the truth, but says that she forgives him after seeing him plead for her return on TV. Nick shares this with Boney, Bolt, and Margo. They agree that Amy is guilty, but acknowledge a lack of evidence. Bolt wishes Nick well and returns to New York.
A televised interview takes place in their home seven weeks later. Anticipating Nick's intention to leave her and expose her story, Amy reveals her pregnancy minutes before the interview, having inseminated herself with Nick's sperm from a fertility clinic. Nick reacts violently but feels responsible for the child and decides to stay with Amy, to Margo's distress. The couple announces on television that they are expecting a child.
Cast
Production
Development
Gone Girl is a film adaptation of Flynn's 2012 novel. One of the executive producers, Leslie Dixon, read the manuscript of the novel in 2011 and brought it to the attention of Reese Witherspoon (who was originally slated to play Amy) in December of that year. Witherspoon and Dixon collaborated with Bruna Papandrea to develop the manuscript. With Flynn's film agent, Shari Smiley, they met with film studios in early 2012.
Following the release of the novel in June 2012, 20th Century Fox optioned it in a deal with Flynn, in which the author negotiated that she would be responsible for the first draft of the screenplay. By around October 2012, Flynn was engaged in the production of the first draft while she was also involved in the promotional tour for her novel. Then a first-time screenwriter, Flynn later admitted: "I certainly felt at sea a lot of times, kind of finding my way through."
Flynn submitted her first draft screenplay to Fox in December 2012, before Fincher was selected as the director for the project. Fincher had already expressed interest in the project, and after he finished reading Flynn's first draft, a meeting was scheduled between the director and author within days. Typically, authors who adapt their own works are removed from film adaptations following the first draft and an experienced screenwriter takes over; but, on this occasion, Fincher agreed to work with Flynn for the entire project. Flynn later explained: "... he [Fincher] responded to the first draft and we have kind of similar sensibilities. We liked the same things about the book, and we wanted the same thing out of the movie."
As further preparation, Flynn studied screenplay books and also met with Steve Kloves, who wrote the scripts for the Harry Potter series. Fincher also provided guidance and advised the author: "We don't have the ability to gift the audience with the characters' thoughts, so tell me how they're behaving." During the production of the final screenplay, Fincher and Flynn engaged in an intensive back-and-forth working relationship: Flynn sent Fincher "big swaths" of writing, which he then reviewed, and Fincher would then discuss the swaths with Flynn by telephone. Eventually, some scenes were rewritten "a dozen times", while other scenes were unaltered.
Flynn spoke of an overwhelming adaptation process, in which she condensed a 500-page novel with an intricate plot into a shorter screenplay. She explained how her experience working for a magazine meant she was familiar with eliminating parts of previous drafts, and thus "wasn't ever precious about cutting." As a consequence of the distillation process, most of the parental storylines were lost, so the mother of the character of Desi Collings does not appear, and it was not possible to include flashbacks of Nick Dunne's dead mother.
Flynn experimented with a "lot of iterations" for the ending. One of the aspects that she was certain of was the presence of the media, which she described as the "third player", alongside Nick and Amy. In Flynn's words: "Once we got to the ending, I wanted it to wrap up quickly. I didn't want 8 million more loop-de-loops ... I had no problem tossing stuff out and trying to figure out the best way to get there."
Flynn enjoyed the experience, and she expressed appreciation for Fincher's involvement, as he "really liked the book and didn't want to turn it into something other than what it already was", and he also reassured her, even when she second-guessed herself. Fincher described Flynn's screenwriting work as "very smart", "crafty", and "extremely articulate".
Fincher selected Pike for the lead role because she was not well known to American audiences, and he also felt she had an enigmatic quality which suited the role. Tyler Perry, known mainly for comedic roles, was cast against type as a criminal defense lawyer.
Filming On September 11, 2013, the Gone Girl film crew began filming establishing shots. Principal photography began on September 15 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and was scheduled to last about five weeks. Some interior scenes were filmed in Los Angeles, with a door that could not be replicated being shipped there from Cape Girardeau.
According to producer Ceán Chaffin, Fincher took, on average, as many as 50 takes for each scene, while Flynn has said that, although Fincher is a visual director, he is meticulous about veracity—Fincher changed a scene in which Amy collects her own blood, as he thought it was unbelievable.
Fincher later called Affleck "extremely bright" regarding how he drew on his own experience with the media for the character of Nick Dunne. Fincher explained that Affleck "has a great sense of humor and great wit about what this situation is and how frustrating it is". Fincher described the behavior of the media in the film as "tragedy vampirism", but clarified that "The New York Times and NPR are not in the flowerbeds of the Dunne house".
Costumes The lead costume designer was Trish Summerville, who had worked with director David Fincher on 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Summerville told InStyle that she dressed Nick and Amy in contemporary clothing, understated and simple, showing Nick and Amy as a regular and unassuming couple. Summerville explained that she wanted the clothes to look everyday, as if they ordered them online or bought them at the mall; she said that figuring out what Nick and Amy's 'everyday life' would look like was one of her biggest challenges.
As a result of Amy's self-proclaimed 'Cool Girl' status, her costumes directly reflected the traditionally chic yet girl-next-door attitude. Amy's pieces were meant to be more timeless than high fashion and trendy; Summerville explained that Amy is just "kind of not that girl." This was also exemplified through Amy's jewelry; she wears a Rose Gold Cartier Love bracelet as well as a necklace containing a floating 'A,' to show how Amy holds onto keepsakes from her wealthier past.
Nick Dunne's character is simpler in presentation. Summerville wanted to dress him in simple, well-fitting suits and found that designer suits fit best due to Affleck's build. Nick Dunne can be seen wearing suits from Dolce & Gabbana, as well as Prada shirts. The shirt that Nick puts on when he comes home to find his wife missing is an important piece, because he does not take it off for the days following. The infamous blue shirt Nick wears is a blue button-up designed by Steven Alan, paired with J Brand jeans. When Amy and Nick move to Missouri, Summerville made minor changes to Amy's wardrobe to signify change. She wears more muted colors, more jeans, and fewer high heels.
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