Gone Girl and Fancy-Schmancy Movie Theaters

Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is one of those books that people cannot stop talking about, and for good reason. Personally, I think there are two key elements that make this story a success. 1) A thrilling plot that is constantly evolving and does not get bogged down in superfluous nonsense; and 2) Flynn's ability to convey emotion and feelings through the written word is absolutely astounding. It's as if she enters the average person's head and extracts the non-sugar-coated version of what he/she thinks or feels. Even her descriptions of everyday objects and places left me speechless, as her words were literally exactly how I pictured the object in my own mind.

But would the movie be as great as the book...?

                                    

Here were a few of my thoughts before we saw the movie:

1. Ben Affleck annoys me and I'm not sure if he can pull off the like him one minute/hate him the next Nick Dunne role. I'm still irked that he is playing the new Batman because I can only picture him as the dweeby guy in Forces of Nature who hates to fly.  
2. Rosamund Pike (aka Amy Dunne) pulls off the neurotic beauty queen look quite well. 
3. How are they going to portray the powerful words of Amy's diary in a cinematic format? 
4. The movie trailers were suspenseful and creepy at the same time, and I had a feeling that this movie would leave me with an icky, "that was so messed up" feeling. 

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Ever since my first taste of fancy-schmancy movie theaters a year and a half ago, I have become a theater snob. Movies cost an arm and a leg for the bare bones anyways, so why not shell out a few extra dollars to view your movie from the comfort of an over-sized leather recliner while snacking on  gourmet goodies and sipping a cocktail. (An added bonus is that you can avoid the riff raff that hang around larger theaters on a Friday night. Quick shout out to the woman who once yelled at me during a showing of Sex and the City 2 for politely asking her to shut her trap. How rude of me to ask her to stop talking!) 

We typically go to the Phipps theater but for whatever reason they were not showing Gone Girl. So, we reserved our tickets at Cinebistro three days before our Friday showing, snagging one of the last remaining pairs of seats. 

We had actually never been to Cinebistro before, a theater where you can order food and have them bring a legit meal to your seat. Matt was running late from a presentation at school, so I wandered into our packed theater to figure out how the whole ordering of food and drinks thing went. We had not planned on eating at the theater, but there was no time for either of us to eat before the movie started. So, two beers, a BLT, a bucket of popcorn shrimp/chicken, and $43 later (not including the $30 we paid for tickets), we were ready for the show.

Here are my thoughts post-Gone Girl viewing:

1. I loved the score! The music was simple yet powerful and perfectly complimented each scene. 
2. Rosamund Pike nailed her portrayal of Amy. She was the perfect blend of beauty, grace, crazy, neurotic, psycho, etc. Oscar buzz?
3. Ben Affleck did a good job, but I felt like the movie focused more on developing Amy's character while in the book Nick's character development was just as important. 
4. We had trouble understanding some of the things the actors were saying. Was the music too loud in some scenes for anyone else? Should we go get our ears checked? Maybe Rosamund Pike was speaking softly because she was focused on covering up her English accent? 
5. Remember how I said that my biggest pet peeve is people who talk while other people are talking? Add people who talk during a movie to that list. The lovely couple next to us successfully remained silent for 5-minute intervals before the wife would lean over to explain what was happening. I don't care if you are whispering or yelling, I will throw one of my $13 popcorn chicken bites at you if you keep interrupting my movie.
6. The director beautifully portrayed the back and forth nature of the book, flipping between present day and Amy's words about the past. 
7. I could tell that people who had not read the book really felt the suspense of the movie, but I just didn't get that feeling. Don't get me wrong, the movie was great and did the book justice, but the suspense was not there for me seeing as I knew what was going to happen at every turn. 
8. I was right - the movie was totally messed up and pretty graphic (similar to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which had the same director), but it did not leave me feeling as icky as when Matt made us watch There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men back to back (shutters to herself). 
9. Aww hell no! The chairs at Cinebistro did not recline and were actually pretty stiff.  This place is not worth $75 and I will be sticking to Phipps exclusively from here on out.
10. If you liked Gone Girl, then you really need to read the author's other two books: Sharp Objects and Dark Places (which have as equally disturbing plots but might be a notch or two below Gone Girl in the suspense level). Dark Places is coming to theaters next year and stars Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Nicholas Hoult (Jennifer Lawrence's ex-BF who was also the little kid in About A Boy!) so stay tuned...