GONE GIRL ****
FURY ****
Dir: David Fincher (15, 145 mins)
Gillian Flynn’s blockbusting book comes to the big screen via the man behind
the so- so adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Fight Club. A
polarising novel told from male and female points of view, Gone Girl was a witty,
dark thriller about the potential toxic nature of marriage, and the film, adapted
for the screen by Flynn herself, looks set to continue that trend. Ben Affleck
plays Nick, a man who finds himself accused of his wife Amy’s murder after she
goes missing. Rosamunde Pike plays the spouse, a failing children’s novelist who
vanishes on their fifth wedding anniversary. A media frenzy ensues with the finger
of suspicion pointed firmly at Affleck. Via flashback the marriage is revealed from
initial meeting to eventual corrosion, is Affleck a killer? For those who have read
the book, this isn’t going to be a great surprise but Fincher and Flynn handle the
twists and turns well, Pike is often unknowable as Amy and Affleck is a resolute,
flawed everyman. Neil Patrick Harris plays against type as a creepy follower
of Amy’s, Tyler Perry surprises as a slick DA and Carrie Coon provides sisterly
support for Affleck. A handsome thriller with something to say, Gone Girl is a
worthy adaptation of its source material that will provoke debate. Opens Oct 3
Dir: David Ayer (15, 120 mins)
A Sherman tank crew go behind enemy lines in the closing days of World War II
to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany, with overwhelming odds against them, in
this gritty men-on-a-mission thriller. Brad Pitt plays WarDaddy, a grizzled army
sergeant in charge of a tight-knit tank crew that numbers a mustachioed Shia
LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal and Michael Pena and new boy, fresh faced Logan Lerman.
Under the helm of writer/director Ayer, who recently fumbled the excessive
Schwarzenegger thriller Sabotage, Fury is a grisly-war-is-hell nail biter. Morally
ambiguous and shot with flair, Fury places you in the belly of the steel beast,
as the salty mouthed group of veterans take on their biggest challenge. Familiar
tropes are there: the fresh faced recruit who finds out that war is indeed hel