Dir: David Fincher | USA | 2014 | 149 mins

In 2007 Ben Affleck directed Gone Baby Gone, starring his brother Casey. His latest film is Gone Girl, to be followed by Gone Woman and finally Gone Granny Gone Gone to complete the quadrilogy.

When we got in the cinema (yes, we actually went out to see the film, good to see it packed on a Saturday night), the trailer for Gone Girl mistakenly appeared just before film, with the words ‘COMING SOON’ raising a titter from the audience as the film started immediately afterwards. But the credits go too fast, I’m not even sure if we’re watching another trailer, then suddenly we’re into the film. I never get properly into it, the premise too absurd, the two attractive leads living in a mansion which appears like an empty film set (let me guess: it’s intentional), the psycho wife’s actions completely over the top, over-elaborate and unbelievable (why doesn’t she just kick him in the balls and be done with it?). All the discussions about misogyny mask the bigger crime of the film: it’s just not exciting or convincing.

Similar films such as Fatal Attraction or Basic Instinct, of variable quality though they are, at least the former film presents a believable domestic environment for Michael Douglas – loving wife and child, lingering shots of their house.

I know quite a few people who admire his films but I’ve never known what all the fuss about David Fincher is and aside from Seven, Fight Club and maybe Zodiac, I’ve actively disliked more of his films – Panic Room, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – than I’ve admired, though at the time I remember defending The Game against much abuse.

All the five star reviews, I don’t know, most films are so bad nowadays, film critics get a whiff of something vaguely Hitchcockian and it gets great reviews, even if it’s decidedly average.

2.5 / 5