Ayden The NinjaPirateBear’s review published on Letterboxd:
2014 Ranked
Non-2020 First Time Watches Ranked
Directors Ranked: David Fincher
I put this one off for the longest time due to the runtime. I don't know what it is but long runtimes just scare me off. Well, I could've safely watched this one earlier as the film just flew by. Sure, it slows down a little in the second act, but it is never boring.
I won't go too much into plot as, if this hasn't been spoiled for you, it's best to go in dark. But this is basically about a guy whose wife goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary. She is presumed murdered and he is the main suspect. I think all of the main cast are great in this. Rosamund Pike has never been better, and Ben was pretty solid here too. I also really liked Tyler Perry as the lawyer. Perry is someone I have never been a fan of, but he is absolutely fantastic in this.
As with any Fincher, it is technically speaking, a masterpiece. A great score by Trent Reznor, solid pacing (as previously mentioned) and a great, somber colour palette for the film.
I really only have three complaints. Two are to do with casting and one to do with something in the story, and that'll go into very vague spoiler territory. First, could we not do better for the mistress than Emily Ratajkowski? Like, I get it, she is hot and has giant melons, but she was awful. Knowing Fincher is a perfectionist, I wonder how many takes he did before considering blowing his brains out. Or if he just took the first take to get it over with. She has very few lines in the film, but they're all delivered awfully. Secondly, Neil Patrick Harris...dude is a great actor but he is woefully miscast here. I didn't buy him in this role for even a split-second.
Finally, consider this a final warning if you don't want to know anything at all about the ending. I won't go into details but you might get a hunch from what I say here, so be warned. I am usually a fan of a gut-punch ending (see Chinatown) if done right. For whatever reason though, this one just left the most sour of tastes in my mouth. It just did not work for me in the slightest.
Overall though, this is a must watch and it shows how great Fincher is when this will be, at best, fourth on my Fincher rankings, and may even drop. Fincher is a beast.
