Gone Girl: Movie vs.Book

*WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS*

Overall, the movie version of Gone Girl stayed very true to the book. However, there were some obvious differences that made the perception of the characters slightly different than in the book.

One of the biggest things that I noticed was how Nick was portrayed as a lot more trapped and pitiful than he was in the book. This is especially evident when Nick realizes that Amy is framing him, but he doesn't want to explain or reveal it to Boney or Go to try to get them to help him; instead, Boney stays out of the investigation once Amy returns and makes it seem like Nick doesn't have a choice. Nick is also perceived as a little less sleezy and pitiful than in the book; the morning of Amy's "disappearance", Nick actually goes to the beach instead of going to see Andy and reading issues of his old magazine like in the book. The viewer feels a little more sorry for Nick than they do in the book because of this (until his mistress comes in, of course).

The perception of Amy is also altered. In the movie, when she goes to fake the crime scene, she siphons her blood out of a tube rather than cutting herself like she does in the book. This makes her seem a little more calculated and careful about what she does (as well as a little less crazy). She is also a lot more careful with her money when she's hiding in the cabin as well. The only time she is less calculated and more gruesome is when she kills Desi. In the book, she slips him her sleeping pills and then kills him, but in the movie, she slits his throat while he's awake, and she murders him after being with him for days in the book, but the movie cuts the timeline shorter. The movie also doesn't go into the other instances of Amy's crazy episodes, like the two "friends" she had in the past. In the book, Nick uses their stories to validate what he thinks about Amy. In the movie, they aren't mentioned, making it seem like Amy only became crazy after she met Nick.

As for the other characters, Boney and Gilpin play much larger roles; for example, they're the ones that go into the abandoned mall to investigate instead of Nick and Amy's father. Since the book was more inside of Nick's head and the movie can't do that (obviously), there's a lot more focus on the actual investigation, which helps keep it interesting, rather than having pointless comments from Nick that have nothing to do with what's going on; this gives more opportunity for Boney and Gilpin to have key roles.

Two characters that were noticeably missing were Desi's mother and Tanner Bolt's wife. Although neither of them played a key role in the book, they once again change the perception of the two main characters. The absence of Desi's mother adds to the "less crazy" perception of Amy in the movie. The absence of Tanner Bolt's wife doesn't really do much, but it is interesting that in the book it was an interracial marriage (not entirely sure why it was in the book; just some social commentary about differences between the north and the south?).

Overall, I think that the movie had a lot more intensity because of the fact that it focused on the investigation rather than having pointless side stories, trashy comments from Nick or psychotic ones from Amy. Also, Nick gets the last word instead of Amy, which I think he deserves; even though he wasn't a great guy, Amy put him through a lot of crazy crap.



Gone Girl Trailer

 After watching this trailer, I expect that this movie will be very fast paced compared to the book. In the book, it takes a long time for the twists and developments to occur. The movie makes it seem like it's more about the investigation and the suspicion than the background of Nick and Amy's relationship. From this trailer, Amy isn't exactly how I imagined she would be based on the book. Desi also seems different in the trailer than how I saw him in the book; in the book he seemed much more relaxed and luxurious, but in the trailer he almost seems dead inside. Nick is exactly the way I imagine him. As far as I can tell, the movie is very similar, if not exactly like the book. The only difference may be that the book a lot more psychological because you can actually see into each character's thoughts. The movie might stay more on course with what's happening with the crime and everything, because rather than getting distracted with random back stories from Nick and Amy that have no relevance to the mystery, it's easier to get tangled in the plot.

 I enjoyed this book a lot because of the revelations and the extreme twists that occurred; I hope that the movie reflects the same amount of suspense. I hope that is also attaches me to the characters the way that the book does so that the twists are just as devastating. Without that attachment, the twists don't seem that bad and don't really affect the viewer/ reader at all, but those emotions are what's so good about the book. I hope that this gets reflected in the movie so that people who didn't read the book can go through those same highs and lows.



Movie Adaptions

I haven't read a lot of books that have been adapted into movies, but the ones I have read have blatant differences from the movies. While some of these changes are necessary to make the movie more interesting for viewers, there are others that directors make that stray away from the book almost entirely.


A classic example would be the Harry Potter series. In my opinion, the movies were very good and followed the books very closely. But some of the changes that they made were just inexcusable. The most obvious one was in The Goblet of Fire:

There was no need to have such a drastic change in Dumbledore's character from the book to the movie; it just painted a beloved character in a terrible light.


In other film adaptions, whenever you talk about how they compare to the book, almost everyone emphatically says, "the book was WAY better". The main reason they say this is because the movie leaves out a lot of important details or events that were in the book. It's understandable that every single small detail from the book can't be in the movie due to time and budget constraints,  but when huge events  or characters are left out, you can't help but feel like you were robbed a little bit; you feel sorry for people that haven't read the book because they're missing out on such a great part of the story.


But I also think that films do a good job of expanding on things that may have only been a page or half a page in the book. They help us get a unique visual of the book and understand certain aspects of the plot that we couldn't quite see just by reading. Getting to see the story you love on screen helps you feel even closer to it (unless you hate the adaption; then you just cry).