[SPOILERS for Gone Girl]
Gone Girl was better than I expected, in unexpected ways.
There aren’t enough clear-eyed, female sociopaths in movies or television. We’ve got fuck-tons of crazy bitch characters, certainly, and countless man-eating succubi; in recent years, we even have a growing collection of AARP-eligible she-monsters, out to rip a hole in the world. (Your efforts have been noted, Jessica Lange.) But we don’t have many chicks who get to be complete bastards, just ‘cause.
That’s the first thing GG delivers. Not for our titular girl will there be a traumatic backstory, womb madness, or an abandonment complex run amok; she’s all unrepentant self-interest, self-aggrandizement, and self-sufficiency, wedged into a sexy-when-she-feels-like-it blonde package. She’s a rare beast, and nicely written to be the smartest person in the room, in every room. Gillian Flynn deserves credit for never degrading her creation with more than a narcissist’s delusional self-pity, and denying her any access to truly relatable tragedy. She’s just a horrible, fascinating, infuriating human being for no good reason, and that’s enough.
But there’s more: Flynn pulls off an equally surprising achievement in somehow tricking David Fincher into making a legitimately funny film. (Perhaps House of Cards empowered him, too.) IMDB may deem GG to be a “drama/mystery/thriller”, but I call it a dark comedy. It’s nasty in all the right ways, and wears a half-concealed grin while doing its dirt.