David Fincher's Gone Girl is premiering at the New York Film Festival on Friday night, but antsy critics were desperate to be first out of the gate, and so we've already gotten the early word from many of them on the film's quality. It looks like it's another winner for the director, with most praising it very highly, some raves, while others say it's at the very least a gripping, suspenseful thriller with great performances. Unexpectedly, Ben Affleck seems to be the actor receiving the most props, although I wonder if that is just due to the surprise factor, since he's never been particularly praised for his acting. Rosamund Pike looks to be a strong Best Actress contender for the villainous role of Amy Dunne, while the movie itself could be headed in Oscar's direction as well (at least for now- the Academy's never been particularly warm to thrillers, even good ones, so a big box office haul would be a plus as far as its awards prospects are concerned).
"Director David Fincher and stars Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck are at the top of their game in this mesmerizing adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel." (Variety)
"Above all, it's a delicious exercise in audience-baiting: what begins as a he-said, she-said story of mounting, murderous suspense, lurches at its fulcrum into the kind of hot mess Brian DePalma might have cooked up 20 years ago in his attic." (Daily Telegraph)
"The movie is phenomenally gripping- although it does leave you queasy, uncertain what to take away on the subject of men, women marriage, and the possibility of intimacy from the example of such prodigiously messed-up people." (New York Magazine)
"A sharply made, perfectly cast and unfailingly absorbing melodrama." (Hollywood Reporter)
