I don’t usually go to the movie theater. I’ll wait months or years until a movie is shown on television, then I’ll pause it for about thirty minutes so I can skip through all of the commercials. It’s a combination of being frugal and not really caring about how, when, or even if I see a movie. This week, however, a friend asked if I wanted to see a movie and I happened to have a gift card that was about a year old, so I said sure. We narrowed our choices down to The Judge with my favorite actor Robert Downey, Jr. and Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck. Due to our work schedules and the movie times, we saw the latter. The Gone Girl trailer had me slightly intrigued, and though I typically choose to watch comedies, I wasn’t disappointed to watch a movie of a different genre.

Don’t worry, I won’t spoil this movie for you, but I do hope to help you make a decision if you are on the fence about going to see this movie. Gone Girl opens with Ben Affleck’s character, Nick Dunne, talking to the audience while the camera is focused on the head of his wife Amy, played by Rosamund Pike. Next we are taken through the first day of Amy’s disappearance which just happens to be the day of the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary. Then for the rest of the movie, the viewer is informed of how many days has gone by since Nick’s wife has gone missing. I’ll be honest, after about an hour and fifteen minutes, I thought the movie had reached its end, and I was pleased with the results. I was wrong, I was horribly wrong! The movie continued for another hour and fifteen minutes. Yes, that is correct… this movie is TWO AND A HALF HOURS long! Thirty minutes from the end, I was wishing the theater didn’t serve beer.

This movie was first a book written by Gillian Flynn; she wrote the screenplay as well. Perhaps I would have enjoyed the book more than the movie- I usually do. Overall, I feel the director, David Fincher, did a great job, however, I do have mixed feelings about this movie. This is where there might be some spoilers, so if you like Ben Affleck, and you have money burning a hole in your wallet, just go watch the movie. If you want some ideas of what to expect, then keep reading.

Do NOT go see this movie if you DO NOT like any of the following:

Violence against women – It’s hard to watch a woman get smashed against a wall, a stair case, and another wall. Not to mention Pike’s character bashing herself in the face with a hammer.

Blood – There is a scene where I held my hand in front of my eyes, because there was A LOT of blood being lost in a very violent way. Hint: It involves a box cutter and a carotid artery.

Ben Affleck – If you don’t like him in other movies, he’s not going to impress you in this one. I think he gets a bum rap though, but I like Nicolas Cage, if that tells you anything.

Adultery – Yeah, Nick is a lying cheater.

Sex Scenes – Three that I can remember. It’s mostly implied, but there is nudity in some spots.

Littering – Pens are senselessly thrown out of a car window… Oh the horror!

Crazy B*%… Um… I Mean Women – The wife is a lunatic all because she felt inadequate to a character in the book series her mother wrote. This movie doesn’t shine a positive light on any of the female characters except maybe Detective Boney played by Kim Dickens. Her name is silly though.

Do NOT go see this movie if you DO like any of the following:

Robert Downey, Jr. – Go see The Judge instead.

Books and Money – Just get the book on your eReader or at the library and spare yourself the cost of a movie ticket, a small drink, and small popcorn – which I believe nowadays will run you about $85. 😉

Gone Girl did manage to keep my attention, even when I really needed to take a bathroom break, so there’s no doubt that it is entertaining. Keep in mind that it is rated R, and is definitely not a date movie. It isn’t a feel-good movie either, and left my friend exclaiming, “Whaaaat?!” when the credits started to roll. I would have preferred a different ending, but I understand why the writer ended it the way she did. I did appreciate the first-person narratives used to show the husband’s side versus the wife’s; I found myself empathizing with both of the main characters. So if you can handle violence, blood, littering, and like a good thriller, then please go see Gone Girl and let me know what you think. Otherwise, do something constructive with two and a half hours of your life… Like reading my posts.