Carissa Green Reads
I read widely from many genres. Perhaps this blog will feature fewer ratings and reviews, but I certainly intend to write about my reading life - it's the subject I most find myself wanting to talk about.
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Notes on Adaptation: Gone Girl
Faithful readers of this column will recall that my first-ever post was my readerly reaction to Gillian Flynn's blockbuster novel "Gone Girl."
http://carissagreen50.booklikes.com/post/766885/some-thoughts-on-gone-girl
I finally have seen the film, directed by David Fincher, and can say I was not disappointed in any way. Flynn herself did the adaptation, and the media had been reporting, at one point during the production process, that the film was going to have a "completely different ending" or a "totally re-written third act." It didn't. In fact, considering the small details that must change from book to film, and the way point of view and internal thought are is handled in film, it was extremely faithful.
Nick is still a jerk of the first water; Amy is still a sociopath. (And I feel completely vindicated about Ben Affleck, as Flynn wrote in the October issue of Glamour magazine that he was "always my top pick for Nick Dunne.") All is right with the movie world.
There was one major plot change that did take me out of the movie, but it was just the briefest of moments: In the novel, Nick and his father-in-law pursue the Amy Buys a Gun lead and go to the abandoned shopping mall to confront the homeless people themselves. The police's follow-up comes later and off-stage.
What I really missed - and this is no fault of the adaptation, because the film obviously can't contain everything - were missing characters (get the irony?). Of course, the treasure hunt was greatly abbreviated in the film. Gone also were such gems as Hillary Handy, Amy's school pal (extra backstory); the young girl in The Bar who gets Nick drunk and records a video interview on her cell phone for a tabloid website; the wife of Tyler Perry's character; the poor mother of NPH's character, Desi. (Hmm, curious, all the missing characters are women.) But fine, the film worked great without them.
If Flynn is nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, I will not be disappointed.
Go see the film - but read the book first.
-cg
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