"Gone Girl" Review

Gone Girl

5 out of 5 stars

Family appropriateness rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Rated R
-Topless female nudity
-Several scenes of sexuality including depictions of oral and anal sex.
-Strong language, including f-words and c-words, throughout
-One scene of graphic, bloody violence.







"Gone Girl" is a non-stop, emotional roller coaster with twists, turns and loops throughout.

The story seems like it would be a straight-forward mystery, but it is not. It starts off with Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) trying to find his missing wife, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). However, as the film progresses, it becomes much more than that.

It is impossible to discuss this movie in greater detail without giving away spoilers, and this is a movie you do not want to go into with any knowledge. There are several twists that give constantly evolving perspectives on who the characters are.

The performances are generally well-done, though Rosamund Pike is a little wooden in some scenes. Two of the actors are known more for comedic roles: Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry. Both do a great job portraying unique characters.

Neil Patrick Harris is well-known for playing Barney Stinson in "How I Met Your Mother," a ridiculous character, who constantly comes up with schemes to get women. At first, it was difficult to separate these two roles, but after some time, he pulls it off. There are some similarities between the two characters, but their personalities are completely different.

"Gone Girl" was directed by David Fincher, who is also known for "Fight Club," a 1999 film known for a big twist near the end. In this movie, Fincher is able to throw the audience through even more loops without overwhelming them. The story is complex, yet the director uses simplicity to tell it. At no time was I confused about the events of this film.

Like I said before, it is impossible to discuss this movie without giving away spoilers. If you do not want to see spoilers, do not look at this section. However, if you have already seen the film or you cannot care less, go ahead and read on.

This film turned out much different than I had expected. The only trailer I had seen made it look like it would be about a psychopathic man who kills his wife. Having a background in psychology, this interested me greatly.

"Gone Girl" does delve into the realm of psychopathy, but in a different way. Nick Dunne, while he has a lot of character flaws, does not end up being the bad guy. His wife does. Near the middle of the film, it is revealed that Amy is a psychopathic version of Carrie Underwood. Livid that her husband had cheated, Amy stages everything to look like her husband had killed her so that he undergoes the death penalty.

When this is all revealed, it seems sudden because it happens within the first hour. I found myself wondering how there could possibly be more to this story, but there is a lot more. It does not end up being about the mystery but about how Nick defends himself legally. There is a satirical element to the story as he is forced to deal with the media, and every move he makes is under constant scrutiny.

The movie also shows Amy's perspective, and the audience finds out just how messed up she is. After  all her money is stolen, she seeks refuge with Neil Patrick Harris's character, Desi Collings, an ex-boyfriend who is desperate for company. In one disturbing, gory scene, she kills him after making it look like he had raped her. She then returns home where she makes Nick's life a living hell.

It is unclear exactly why she comes home. The reason she tells Nick is she realized he is the husband she wanted after seeing his televised interview. I think there is more to it than that, which is one of many reasons to re-watch this film.

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"The Maze Runner" Review

The Maze Runner

3 out of 5 stars
Recommendation: Wait for it to come to Redbox or Netflix

Family appropriateness rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Rated PG-13
-Images of monsters may be scary to young viewers
-Some disturbing, bloody images
-Mild language









It possesses a sense of mystery to keep you interested, but "The Maze Runner" is blander than it should have been.

Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) has been thrown into a society of boys living in a large field. No one knows where they came from. They only know their names and the fact that the answers to their questions are somewhere beyond the walls that surround the field. A large opening appears every morning that leads to a maze. In order to get to the outside world, the boys have to find their way through the maze, but no one has ever done so.

The boys seem content with being there and not finding their way out of the maze. The reason for this seems to be that they have already tried everything and are hopeless. Thomas is different from the rest and wants to find his way out, despite what the designated leader, Gally (Will Poulter), says. Gally thinks the established rules are of upmost importance. When Thomas starts disobeying them, the leader gets angry at him.

The movie stays interesting in that the details are mostly unknown, and very little is ever discovered until the end. However, had it been in the hands of more capable writers, it could have been so much more.  Being about a society built by boys, it could have been a modern-day take on "Lord of the Flies," contrasting the personalities of each boy and juxtaposing their community with real world society. 

Instead of that, the script gives little more than exposition. The characters are simply there to talk about the fact that there is a society and that there are rules in it. There is little character development, and little discussion as to why the society works in the first place.

Though Thomas is different, the writers do not give him or most of the other boys very much personality. The characters are all there just for the purpose of pushing the plot forward, and it is difficult to identify with any of them. There is also a female character introduced later in the film named Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), but the filmmakers do not seem to know what to do with her. She could have been cut out of the movie, and it would not have changed anything.

Will Poulter delivers the best performance as Gally, who is most defined character. He is a stubborn boy who has a by-the-book view on morality. However, a lack of depth given to the society raises a lot of questions as to his motivations. In the end, he is a two-dimensional character who comes off as annoying.

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