Gone Girl

By Pamela Zoslov

In preparation for writing this review, I downloaded a copy of Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel Gone Girl and devoured it before seeing the movie, directed by the widely admired David Fincher. A twisty thriller about a wife who goes missing and the husband who is the chief suspect in her murder, the book has many devoted fans, and the movie falls into the "most anticipated" category.

Glynn, a former Entertainment Weekly reporter, is a facile, accessible writer, and the book is constructed in an interesting way, with alternating narrators, high suspense and shocking turns. It's a fast, easy read, the kind that used to be called a “page-turner” (now maybe “screen-tapper”), but would not be mistaken for great literature. The plot developments feel manufactured, inserted for shock value only.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Review by Bob Ignizio

Even though I think he tends to be a tad overrated by the fanboy set, David Fincher's films are always at least worth checking out. Okay, maybe not always. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is just plain awful, but other than that, I've found his body of work to be at least interesting, and on occasion (ZODIAC, THE SOCIAL NETWORK) flat-out excellent. And yet despite my generally positive feelings towards the auteur, I was frankly dreading seeing his adaptation of the best selling novel THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Why, you ask? Because I had already seen and been blown away by the Swedish version from a mere two years ago. 
 

In terms of plot, both films are fairly similar. Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is a magazine publisher who has just lost a libel case for an exposé he wrote about a corrupt businessman. While taking a sabbatical from the magazine, he is approached by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) with an offer to do some private investigating. Almost 40 years ago, Henrik's niece Harriet disappeared. Henrik believes the girl was murdered, and wants Blomkvist to find the culprit, most likely a member of the Vanger family.