Movie Review: Gone Girl

Gone Girl is the latest in director David Fincher's long line of grim, who done it, procedural flicks and as of now, stands tall as one of the best films of the year. Adapted from Gillian Flynn's uber popular novel of the same name, Gone Girl is a dark and thoroughly engrossing nail bitter, loaded with stellar performances, gorgeous cinematography and tons of jaw dropping moments, stemming from both the film's roller coaster plot, and the sheer technical brilliance displayed by it's director.

Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star as Nick and Amy, the most fucked up cinematic couple of recent memory. Things start off great for the pair; two young, hip urban professionals, gallivanting around New York City without a care in the world. They're kind of smarmy faux intellectuals, who seem to spend more time having sex in public than actually working for a living. The good times come to a screeching halt however when a series of Great Recession sized problems derails their sexy, yuppie dream life. They both lose their slick writing jobs, Amy's trust fund runs dry and Nick's mother comes down with stage four cancer back home in Missouri. The couple leave the city defeated and move down to the sticks to care for Nicks dying mother...and that's when the fun begins. By the time we catch up with them on their five year anniversary, the loving spark in their relationship has transformed into a five alarm blaze of spite and resentment. Amy suddenly goes missing and ol' Nick becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance.

Between Flynn's screenplay and Fincher's uncanny eye, Gone Girl is a veritable stimulation overload. Affleck and Pike bring their characters to life with intense passion, but Pike as "the Amazing Amy" walks away with the MVP trophy on this one. She rattles through Flynn's rapid fire dialogue with ease while giving off that patented, tortured Fincher-esque vibe that is utterly entrancing. Kim Dickens shines as the small town detective assigned the case, equal parts skeptic and hardass, while even Tyler Perry excels as Nick's celebrity defense attorney. Who'd have seen that one coming huh? Fincher's posse from The Social Network returns to help spruce Gone Girl up to Oscar frontrunner levels. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score is as unnerving as the film's characters just as Jeff Cronenweth's cinematography is stunning as usual. Really, I don't think you'll see a more beautiful murder scene than in Gone Girl. That's Fincher for you though. The man who brought strap-on knife dildos, orange juice laced napalm and frosty Swedish sodomy to the big screen has just done it again, with semen releasing box cutters.

Sound weird? Cause it is! This movie is literally one giant head trip. The film opens with a shot of Nick caressing the back of Amy's skull, wondering just what the hell is going on inside. Gone Girl's first act does sort of drag a bit, feeling like a lethargic version of last year's Prisoners and actually had me worried for a second, then the second act takes a hard left turn and launches the film into high gear. Forget everything you think you know about Amy and Nick, about traditional crime and noir flicks, even about Fincher because when Gone Girl goes off the rails there's no stopping this twisted psychological train wreck.  This is some of Fincher's spryest directing in years, it's wild, terrifying and in a weird way, channels the spirit of Tyler Durden with some of the most unreliable narration since the Project Mayhem days, guaranteed to leave you squirming on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Gone Girl, it's David Fincher doing what he does best...thoroughly fucking with his audience.

Movie Review: Argo

The Town was the first movie I reviewed here at Jim's Fear back in 2010. Although I really enjoyed the film, I was more stoked that it redeemed it's star/director, Ben Affleck, who had spent most of the 2000's pissing me off in really shitty roles . Well, if The Town was Affleck's great comeback, Argo appears poised to be his great victory. It's a hell of movie and has some serious Oscar hype behind it.

cheers: to my comeback...and 70's wardrobe

On paper, Argo sounds like it should have been a horrible movie. It's a period film that's also a historical/political drama, based on actual events that are so insanely far fetched, mostly everyone involved in the real life incident couldn't believe it either. But somehow, someway, Affleck pulls this thing off masterfully.

So the film revolves around the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. More than fifty Americans were taken hostage when members of the Iranian Revolution stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran. During the chaos, six Americans managed to escape and hide at the Canadian ambassador's residence. The film's plot centers on how the CIA tries to get those six unfortunate souls out of Iran without getting them discovered and or killed by the Revolutionary Guard. Affleck plays the CIA spymaster who proposes that the hidden American diplomats pose as a Canadian film crew scouting locations in Iran. Argo is basically a movie about the development of a fake movie, where Americans pose as Canadians because they're trying to flee the the Iranians...all orchestrated by the CIA and some old Hollywood producers. Again, this sounds beyond retarded, but it actually happened and it worked!

crazy like a Fox

Despite all the craziness I just mentioned, Affleck has crafted a compelling, suspenseful and powerful film. The opening scene, the storming of the embassy sequence, sets the tone for the entire film. Mixing archival news footage with some awesome handheld camera work, Argo achieves an amazing sense of realism. The sets, props, wardrobe (viva those ugly late 70's get ups) and kick ass classic rock soundtrack (Aerosmith, Dire Straits...Van Halen!) made me feel like I'd time traveled back to the Carter years. Everyone in the cast did an amazing job, from the six hostages in exile who slowly start to go crazy, to Affeck's CIA and Hollywood homeboys who back him up throughout the film (Bryan Cranston and John Goodman are great...in everything), even Affleck himself is pretty believable as the CIA's top extraction specialist. I just have a problem with him acting and directing his films. I know he's the director (and now, certifiably a great one at that) so when I see him on screen I imagine him directing himself in the same outfit and it just pulls me out of the movie. At least that's what happened in The Town...not as much during Argo.

That's probably because I was too busy sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. Yes, I wasn't kidding when I said Argo was suspenseful. As a History geek, I pretty much already knew how the movie ended, yet I was hooked from start to finish. I kept marveling at how Affleck had me by the balls every time I fought the urge to use the restroom. It's really that suspenseful. Go see it.

Movie Review: The Town

Don't call it a co...no, it's a come back.

Holy Jesus, Ben Affleck is back from the dead. It's been a looooong time Ben. Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy, Dogma, even the so hokey its awesome Armageddon...those were all in the 90's bro. Sadly, the 2000's were NOT kind to Mr. Affleck. A decade of crap films (THIS) and tabloid relationships (Ben + JLO = Bennifer?) turned Matt Damon's hetero life mate into a walking punchline and the recipient of many taco flavored kisses. 

Poor Ben tried turning things around by the decades end. His portrayal of a suicidal Superman in 2006's Hollywoodland wasn't altogether terrible and he directed the hell out of the critically acclaimed Gone Baby Gone the following year but he still hadn't dug himself out of the massive shit hole he had created (although he made me laugh pretty hard in his small role in Mike Judge's Extract).

So now it's 2010 and with this new decade comes a fresh start...and what a fucking start it is! The Town is a suspenseful drama the likes of which I haven't experienced in some time. Equal parts lovey drama and cops & robbers heist flick, The Town is about a motley cr(ue)w of Irish bank robbers whose lives get flipped turned upside down when Dougie (Affleck), falls in love with the bank manager from one of their heists. Blake Lively and Rebecca Hall are cute as hell, while The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner steals the fucking show as Doug's psycho bff Jem. The dude from Mad Men (Jon Hamm) does an adequate job in his role as the stereotypical FBI agent who really hates the bad guys ("gotta catch em all...") but honestly, the only real patchy acting role in this film is once again, ol' Ben Affleck himself. Of course Affleck's drab (Keanu Reeves inspired?) performance is still, easily, his best piece of work all decade; and really it's his directing and writing skills that are off the hook in this movie. The bank robbery scenes are insane, a cross between Heat and Point Break, while the Bostonian drama elements are reminiscent of Mystic River and The Departed. Affleck isn't reinventing the wheel here, but his directorial work in The Town shows he steals from the best.