Shortly after making his arguably unnecessary adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher disappeared into TV land and began focusing his attentions to the Netflix TV series House of Cards. With the show’s success and immediate second season planned, it was thrilling to see him return to movies, this time with an adaptation of the incredibly popular book “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we drop our first members-only episode and catch up with our David Fincher series (until Mank comes out later this year) with Fincher’s 2014 Gone Girl. 

We talk about why this film and story likely was something that attracted Fincher, and how it fits in with other adaptations and original scripts he’s directed. We look at the nature of unlikeable characters and why they’re still so compelling. We discuss what Flynn may be saying about women – or what she may not be saying, depending on who you listen to – and how the character of Amy is a fascinating case study no matter how you slice it. We talk about Ben Affleck and how perfectly he embodies his character, and how he stopped the production for four days because he refused to wear a Yankees ball cap. We look at a number of the other actors and what they bring to the table. We look into the switch to Adobe for the post-production and how they found it more effective to manage 500 hours of raw footage. And we chat about Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and why their music works so well in Fincher’s latest creations.

It’s another brilliant entry in Fincher’s filmography, though perhaps not near the top, and we have a great time chatting about it. Check it out and tune in! After this, our members-only episodes are going to be for members only, so make sure you head to thenextreel.com/membership and join us! The Next Reel – when the movie ends, our conversation begins!

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