Gone Girl Explained

[@strongrex2615]

As much as I love the movie version Gone Girl, I do think that the book did a better job of making it clear that Amy doesn’t just go after love interests that piss her off, she goes after EVERYONE who pisses her off. In the movie they kept Tommy O’Hara as a past ex-boyfriend of Amy’s, but in the book there was a classmate named Hilary Handy who was accused of stalking Amy, trying to steal her identity, and pushing her down the stairs. What the real story ended up being was that Amy set all of that up and threw herself down the stairs and injured herself to frame Hilary. I understand that they cut Hilary Handy’s character for time, but if it would’ve just been a few minutes of screen time or even just a mention, Amy wouldn’t have come across as much like someone who gets revenge on just ex love partners - it’s more like “don’t have this person in your life AT ALL.” If not Hilary Handy, the movie also could’ve at least kept the line Nick had regarding the truck driver who cut Amy off in traffic, and she spends four months or so trying to get that truck driver fired, down to memorizing his routes and making up stories about her being a single mother almost getting run off the road and everything. Again, it would’ve taken no more than just a simple mention (In fact, in one or two of Tanner Bolt’s scenes, there is an opportunity for that to come up and Nick never brings it up) and it would’ve been 15 seconds of screen time at the most.

[@WhytheBookWins]

Yeah so true!

[@passionatetechnology8306]

Agree. Amy came off as a major monster. The husband comes off as struggling with love for women and general distrust that spawned from his father. Nick and Amy are both terrible people who know how terrible each of each other are.

[@TheLORDofTOXICITY]

Excellent points

[@TheLORDofTOXICITY]

​@WhytheBookWins and yet again , you don't mention ANY of that in your review?

[@FancyAlly]

U keep saying Nick is the worst but Amy literally killed someone, accused & framed multiple men or rape, kidnapping etc. Maybe the book Amy was nicer but the movie Amy was heartless. I only felt bad for her about the infidelity & her money being stolen

[@ladysuznuk]

The book is actually far less sympathetic toward Amy, you really get the idea that she deeply evil in the book.

[@Raine-97]

She’s even WORSE in the book. Seeing all of these people praising her is DRIVING ME NUTS! 😭😭😭

[@izzyjoshuadavis]

Amy is crazy. But I think that is why I like her so much in the book and movie. 😂

[@rowenatulley852]

Read the book first, which made me want to see the movie. I thought the movie adaptation was well done, no surprise since Flynn wrote the screenplay. The casting was perfect. I originally had doubts about Neil Patrick Harris as Desi, but seeing him perform his role as a possessive, slightly mental type, I changed my mind. Enjoyed the comparison so much, I subscribed . . .

[@WhytheBookWins]

Yeah even though I prefer the book, the movie is fantastic! Thanks for subscribing 😁

[@rowenatulley852]

You're welcome! BTW, I'm a writer, but none of my books will ever be made into movies . . .@@WhytheBookWins

[@michellewu6689]

I saw the movie for the first time the other week (I didn’t have any spoilers) and the thing that was disturbing to me was how much I knew Amy’s actions were abhorrent but how much I saw things the way she did. In the beginning scenes, I commented (to my friend and boyfriend who were watching with me) on how I wished I was that graceful and statuesque and how I felt that she was witty to a point of fictionality, as well as how I wished I had boobs like Andi’s. Literally everything I said about Amy was brought up in the cool girl monologue and she also addressed Andi’s boobs (in a derogatory way) as well. Literally everything about her was constructed in such a self aware way that it was so impressive to me, and after this movie ended, I was deeply disturbed, not necessarily by all the events, but by how clear the power dynamics were and how I even related to Amy, even though I’d never do any of the things she does.

[@Wargatron]

•People tend to hate Nick more than they hate Amy for the same reasons people hate Dolores Umbridge more than Voldemort. •Book Andie was so creepy to me, she was so obsessed with Amy. •His mom wasn’t the only woman who babied Nick, Go also babied Nick significantly and a few other women try to as well.

[@PoochieCollins]

I'm a dude who has the typical bias toward people of my demographics (men, in this case), I hadn't read the boo, but I believe I got the same impression of the movie that you had about the book where the wife was morally worse than the husband, but both were bad / morally problematic. E.g. It was established early on that he was a mooch off her finances, and his cheating is cited a few times throughout. They could've more firmly made out the husband to not be a good person, but I believe that was predominantly because the writers were trying to squish as much important detail from the novel into the single film as possible, inevitably having to skimp on certain details. I think this typically happens in the production of movies that are based on novels. There were at least a few other plot points that seemed rushed in the film, though it was still a good movie overall. I loved the moral complexity and not knowing what was going to happen.

[@amberbuno8032]

this!! i think a huge part of why amy has so many defenders is because you can see how awful of a person nick is, but he’s never called out/ truly reprimanded for it. I know his sister gives him some grief but she never really left his side and continued defending him. It’s very very clear that he wasn’t super upset about WHERE or WHAT happened to Amy. (like how he didn’t even bother to call her parents??) More so he cared about how it affected HIM and how this is such an inconvenience to him. yes amy was a sociopath and extremely narcissistic, but so was nick. Just like how Amy was never going to actually kill herself (her narcissism would not allow it, hence why she kept pushing the date back) Nick would’ve never left Amy. the push and pull they have over each other is something they both know they will never find in anyone else. Nick feels like he has control over amy which fuels amy to turn the tables, and then they just keep switching back and forth. truly two sick and twisted people in a never ending game

[@YouTuber-my2ky]

I love the statement about knitting, scrap booking, etc. ❤ I played with male cousins as a child and ended up working as an engineer in America in a team almost void of women. The guys didn't pressurize me into putting on a facade, but I somehow felt the need to put on one to fit in.

[@amandabun]

The ‘cool girl’ monologue is essentially my favourite insight

[@Seldarius]

I guess that there is some irony in her turning out to be the ultimate “cool girl”. (Insert cold as ice joke here.) Coming up with an intricate disappearance/framing/murder plot and getting away with it definitely makes her “not like the other girls”. The realisation that he’d be bored with a “normal girl” reminded me immediately of the recent “Deep Water” adaptation, where a similar sentence was uttered by Ana de Armas. But in “Gone Girl” it seems to make some twisted sense, while in Deep Water it was just a “huh?!” line.

[@WhytheBookWins]

Yeah the movie deep water seemed to rip off gone girl too much with that line and then the ending. I had fun with it, but gone girl is far better in my opinion. Your point about Amy not being like other girls 😆😆

[@Seldarius]

@@WhytheBookWins I wouldn’t necessarily call it a rip-off, though they are definitely related. (Cousins maybe, one of them still working at the pizza place in their home town, while the other is a lawyer in NYC 😉). I believe that Gillian Flynn has named Deep Water as an inspiration for Gone Girl in the past, while I’m sure the later filmmakers took some inspiration from the Gone Girl movie. The commentary on the trapfalls of marriage and toxic symbiosis echoes through both stories. Sadly Deep Water falls short though, in my opinion, mostly because the script is a bit shoddy. The characters are inconsistent and so is their relationship to each other. It’s as if they couldn’t figure out how to adapt a toxic marriage of convenience from the 1950s to a modern version and still make sense of it. Also, they show their cards way too early. Had they run with the whole “has he or hasn’t he” until the end, it could have been a lovely little thriller with a bittersweet ending.

[@WhytheBookWins]

@@Seldarius very well put! Yeah I have a book vs movie for deep water and I saw Flynn was inspired by Highsmith so that was cool.

[@Wargatron]

“Im not like other girls, I’m worse.”

[@michaelrc6282]

thank you doing your research and understanding the difference between sociopath and psychopath. great video 😊

[@WhytheBookWins]

Thank you so much!

[@YouTuber-my2ky]

Wow, the book is weirder. Nick's justification for staying with her is odd.

[@LucyLioness100]

The book is an excellent read, but I did enjoy the movie more. Fincher was the perfect director to direct the adaptation (given his work on “Seven” & “Zodiac” for thrillers) and they cast the parts well with Rosamund Pike as Amy & Ben Affleck as Nick, but also Carrie Coon as wise-ass Margo & Tyler Perry as the pricey lawyer deserved their praises.

[@rowenatulley852]

Don't forget Boney. IMHO, Pike, Coon, and Kim Dickens deserved Oscar nominations, if not the awards themselves . . .

[@mihaitha]

Why do you say that Nick sucks for not liking the real Amy? It's not the Amy he knows, she has been lying to him and pretending to be someone else their entire marriage, and pretending not to be someone she knew that Nick wouldn't like and with whom he wouldn't have pursued a relationship in the first place. Why is it absurd for him to reject this other (albeit true) Amy? Yea, sure, he's shallow and likes plain, one-dimensional, fun-loving girls. That's his type. If you're that kind of girl and are attracted to that kind of man, good for you (like Andy is). If not, look somewhere else. But Amy wants to have her cake (Nick) and eat it too (be someone Nick wouldn't like). And you think Nick sucks for this? Seriously?

[@kimbuhlyt2803]

i agree with you! people should always just be themselves and stop trying to impress people who arent worth impressing, someone who truly loves the real you will eventually find you.

[@jeremygilkison7224]

Well said. Thank you.

[@mihaitha]

@@jeremygilkison7224 it just occurred to me, it's like you buy something off the internet, and what you get is not what was advertised, and you suck for not liking what was delivered.

[@angellover02171]

He doesn't really want to know the real Amy.

[@alexforce9]

@@angellover02171 Why should he? It was her job to present the "real Amy" when they first met. To present yourself in one way and then feel hurt when the other person doesnt like the "real you" is delusional. Be yourself from the start and let the other person decide if they like you or not.

[@Rachel4momo]

I’m not defending cheating but faking ur partner killed u seems way worse.

[@WhytheBookWins]

Yeah, definitely. She was insane lol

[@313aiden]

@@WhytheBookWinsalso accusing men of false rape is a real fucked up thing to do that is worse than cheating in my opinion. She’s way evil

[@TheLORDofTOXICITY]

​@@WhytheBookWinsand yet you defend her and vilified Nick⁉️

[@TheLORDofTOXICITY]

​@@313aidenfunny how she ignores that lol

[@Nopenonameok]

I love her 🤭

[@YouTuber-my2ky]

Tyler perry was in fact amazing. He looked and played the part, excellently.

[@DimitriLeeBX]

I think killing Dessi was justified because he really does hold her captive and doesn't let her leave. Killing him in her mind was a 2 for 1 she would escape his lake house and the situation she created for Nick.

[@randomname4726]

Have you seen or read Sharp Objects? The mini series is amazing, the book is OK. I would watch the series first.

[@WhytheBookWins]

Not yet but I want to!

[@randomname4726]

@@WhytheBookWins Oh I think you would love it. It's my favourite from Amy Adams.

[@julius-stark]

At some point I'm going to read/audio the book, but I really like the movie because of Amy and because of the ending. This has to be one of the only movies I've seen where a female villain uses her privilege as a woman to manipulate society into forcing her husband to stay with her. There's that scene where she literally baby traps him and he slams her head against the wall and she's not even mad, because she knows she has him. It's like that scene in the Dark Knight where the Joker says "You have nothing to threaten me with, nothing to do with all your strength." Nick can't hurt or leave Amy, because she can destroy him without lifting a finger. It's such a masterclass in plotting and manipulation by Amy. And oddly, you can't have it the other way around. If this were about Nick framing Amy for murder because she cheated, killed an innocent woman and framed her as an abductor, forced Amy to have a baby, etc, it wouldn't work. We would want Nick dead too much. But Rosamond pulls it off so well that, I don't necessarily like Nick, but I feel bad for him. He's trapped in a marriage with a psychopath.

[@TamESQ]

I love both the book and movie.

[@paulhurley1670]

I haven't read the book, but based on the movie I think it's important to consider when judging Nick that we are only shown the history of their relationship through the lens of a diary designed to demonize Nick and idealize Amy. In the present, we see that Nick definitely resents her but it seems reasonable to assume that he's suffered a lot of abuse (both overt and covert) from her by this point in the story. Sure he should've left her before getting into another relationship, and he shouldn't ever have gotten with Andie. But even if he had no idea that Amy would destroy his life for leaving her, it's shown by the end that he is hopelessly trauma bonded to her.

[@Lily-ni5po]

No, the book is half his pov. And he is awful. The underlying misogyny that ends up bursting out of him at the end is not pretty even if extremely mundane.

[@Citizen-ku8kv]

Great review

[@p_nk7279]

How would this be polarizing? On what issues or themes? It’s a good book, and the movie captures it darn well. Ben Affleck (whom I generally think is a twit actor) is perfect in this role - based on the character from the book. He nailed it. Again, I see no ‘polarizing’ effects and I challenge whatever dumb premise that thought is based on.

[@Amy-tg7tu]

Was that your dog or something in the background it made me shit myself multiple times I thought someone was screaming in my house lol

[@WhytheBookWins]

sorry lol, yeah we have a dog that has a high pitched bark!

[@Amy-tg7tu]

@@WhytheBookWins it’s so funny 🤣🤣

[@MrSquaky]

man you really hate nick

[@pircjkrgko7869]

As she should

[@jenniferk507]

"What's to like?"

[@rowenatulley852]

I hated him at first because I really thought he murdered Amy. Then I liked him when he had the guts to lure her back to save himself. Then I hated him again when he lost the nerve to spill the beans on Amy . . .

[@PoochieCollins]

@@rowenatulley852 TBF, Amy was going to screw him over if he outed her, and he used her and cheated on her earlier himself.

[@Wargatron]

@@PoochieCollinsyea but more than that, he wanted to stay. Not for good, heathy reasons and certainly not out of love for her, but because he no longer feels like he can feel happy or not bored in a normal, steady relationship with a good person. He hated Amy but in a fucked up way, she brought out the best in him. (In the book.)

[@ashleyburchettajleefanlove4683]

Can you do the book speak? Watch the movie first

[@WhytheBookWins]

I looked it up and it sounds interesting. How come you recommend the movie first?

[@ashleyburchettajleefanlove4683]

@@WhytheBookWins just in case you wanna watch the movie first before the movie I’m gonna order the book when I get a chance to

[@TheLORDofTOXICITY]

The Movie Definitely Wuns laura

[@p_nk7279]

He doesn’t resent her money - he utilizes it. I think much of this characterization (in this vid) is off-target. Boo

[@perillat99]

Took the KZbinr almost exactly ten minutes for her to finally reveal her true purpose. Why do women always have to do this lmao. L

[@WhytheBookWins]

What was my true purpose?

[@p_nk7279]

His sister’Go’ (Margot) is a weak point of the movie. Maybe Jeanine Garafolo could have nailed it, this actor was flat and just a female doppelgänger for Nick. I found that the one weak casting point.