(B)adaptations Script: Gone Girl

LOST AND FOUND: GONE GIRL EDITION

A (B)adaptations Production ©

Madelon: Hey guys and welcome to our very first episode of (Bad)aptations with yours truly, Madel-leon and Demi Lovato!

Emily: Just kidding, but hey guys it’s Emily and Madelon and thanks for tuning into our video.

Madelon: Today we are gonna be talking about GONE GIRL dun dun dunnnnn. For those who have read the book you understand our excitement to review and compare this book with the David Fincher movie that came out in 2014.

Emily: If you’re like us, you couldn’t put down this almost 500 page book.

Madelon: But seriously I laid in bed for a full day finishing this one. It just kept me on my toes and wanting to know more and more.

Emily: But, the movie on the other hand, was a teeny bit too long for us. Madelon even fell asleep

Madelon: I did not!!!

Emily: Oh yeah, I was the one who snoozed, but the plot was so good it woke me up eventually.

It was definitely worth spending 2 hours and a half glued to the TV screen. Overall, the book is also lengthy, so I think David Fincher did his best to condense it as much as possible without leaving out too much.

Madelon: Ok, so, let’s start by talking about where David Fincher got Gillian Flynn’s book right in film representation and structure. Overall, Fincher structures the film like the book is structured. The first half alternated between Amy’s disappearance, seen primarily from Nick’s point of view, and Amy’s diary entries. Next, we move to the big reveal of Amy’s faked death halfway through. From then on, we see the characters becoming who they were in the book as well. Nick realizes Amy’s delusion and psychotic plan, and we see Amy’s decisions after her disappearance.

Emily: I think this structure really served as a device to manipulate the actual narrative. It’s brilliant. You’re able to tell multiple stories of one story. When you see if from different perspectives- in this case, Amy and Nick’s- you get two completely different stories, and I think that is the most powerful characteristic of this book and film. I also have to say they got the backstory of Amy pretty spot on.

Madelon: I completely agree, they don’t leave out the fact that the Amazing Amy franchise is based off of actual Amy’s life. From a young age, her parents were never really satisfied with her, so she creates Amazing Amy in a manner that mirrors what her life would have been like if she had never failed in certain aspects of life. For example, Amy didn’t make the volleyball team in high school, but Amazing Amy made the varsity team. Amy wasn’t married, so Amazing Amy got married, and so on.

Emily: Dude, talk about literally trying to rewrite your own history.

Madelon: Haha yeah you may feel bad for Amy at first, but by halfway through your mind changes doesn’t it?

Emily: Oh absolutely. Let me just say that I think Amy is a total badass. Yeah I know she’s totally crazy and all, but you have to give her credit for her meticulous scheme. I thought I was a good schemer, but she literally went through with the scheme of the century. Did you come to admire the creativity she put in to plan all of this?

Madelon: Haha, yeah of course, I think as a woman it's easy to sympathize with another woman who feels washed out, used, abused, and wants to turn her life around and start over. And as for her staging her disappearance or death, well I think we can understand that desire for payback, and admire the intelligence it took to pull that scheme off, but at the end of the day, this woman was psycho! Point blank. When she manipulated Desi and then killed him and framed him for kidnapping her I was like WOAH! I’m done, I’m out girl! You’re crazy!

Emily: I agree, her attacking Desi is crazy in both the film and the book. But I have to say, the movie missed out on a little bit of the grueling details of Desi’s murder that were in the book. In the book, she slices his throat and repeatedly stabs him during the climax of their sex, but in the movie she just slipped him a cocktail of drugs and kills him. And then after she accuses Desi of kidnapping her, Desi’s mom goes crazy about it in the book. But she’s not even in the movie at all!

Madelon: Okay so you think they went wrong in this scene?

Emily: Yeah I think they did a bit. Although stabbing sex doesn’t sound or look too pleasurable, at the end of the day, the audience wants to see gruesome scenes like that.

Madelon: Do you think they were trying to make the movie more accessible to wider audience maybe? By omitting more gruesome details? Also, you can’t assume that everyone would enjoy watching that. I can imagine a lot of people closing their eyes or looking away if they would have showed this part in the movie.

Emily: Accessible or not, you have to be true to the book and the fans who love the book, the original script! I also think humans have this innate curiosity when it comes to gruesome things. Why do you think violence is so prominent in films? Because people want to see it- regardless if they want to admit it or not.

Madelon: I guess I can see where you are coming from, but I still think a lot of people would not have enjoyed that scene. I also think that replacing this scene gives the fans a little something new too, right?

Emily: Yeah of course. So... should we keep talking about where the movie and the book differ?

Madelon: *laughs* Well there’s kind of a lot where the two differ, but mostly in small plot points and characters.

Emily: Yeah so, I noticed Nick’s dad was barely in the movie, and Desi’s mom wasn’t there at all. Desi’s mom played a big role in the book in proclaiming her son's innocence and accusing Amy of being the psychotic she truly was at the end of the book. But *sigh* no one listened.

Madelon: Yeah I noticed that, too.

Emily: I feel like leaving out the parents wasn’t the best move. Of course, it would have added more time to the length of the film, but I feel like both of those characters really add to the personalities of the other featured characters.

Madelon: Yeah, I agree. And did you also notice the differences in character representations vs. how they were described in the book?

Emily: Yes! I hate bringing up female appearances, but Flynn described Detective

Rhonda Boney as not the best looking female (a little ugly), and I didn't think the detective was unattractive in the movie.

Madelon: Yeah, she was cute… and I pictured Margo differently as well, almost, more sexy!? in the book than what they showed us on screen.

Emily: But I think the most shocking change in character was Tyler Perry as Nick’s attorney, Tanner Bolt! In the book Nick describes Tanner as a hot-shot law attorney, that was kind of shady in getting truly innocent people off, and he’s literally described as ‘overly spray-tanned’.... Do you see that in Tyler Perry? Don’t get me wrong, I love Tyler Perry and he’s a very talented actor, but I just thought it was weird that they didn’t hire someone that matched the book character more. I don’t know how to feel about it, in a way I’m mad they didn’t follow the book, but on the other hand, I applaud them for hiring a person of color rather than a white person. No offense intended, but don’t even get me started about the racial disparities in the film industry.

Madelon: Hahaha yeah I won’t get you started, I know how heated you can get about this subject. Anyways, I agree that they got Tanner off, but do we think that these characters, no matter how close or far they are from their descriptions in the book, still functioned in the same capacity in the movie as they did in the book? Do you think the characters were represented effectively enough to accept or overlook their differing appearances?

Emily: I think so. I mean, I think you couldn’t have the movie, or the book, without any of those three characters, Tanner Bolt, Margo, and Detective Boney. They’re essential to the narrative either way. So of course they had to function well for the narrative in the movie too, the way they looked was really the only leeway Fincher had to work with to manipulate for difference. But I also think the appearance of the character on screen being accurate to what the book describes is actually really important.

Madelon: Were there other places in the film that you feel Fincher let down the book?

Emily: Well, you know how the scavenger hunt is extremely essential to the entire plot of the movie? It basically leads Nick, and then the police, to incrimination evidence that ‘proves’ Nick had motive, and did kill his wife. But in the film they left out one of the written clues that Amy left Nick that read “Picture me: I’m crazy about you, My future is anything but hazy with you, You took me here so I could hear you chat, About your boyhood adventures: crummy jeans and visor hat, Screw everyone else, for us they’re all ditched, And let’s sneak a kiss… pretend we just got hitched”

Madelon: Yeah I noticed that too. Explaining the scavenger hunts, going into depth about previous scavenger hunts and their clues, gifts, and resulting fights, was a huge set up for the actual scavenger hunt in the book, and I thought they skimmed over both with little detail or importance in the movie. Like, they only included it to give context, and set up, instead of putting stress on it given its importance in the book.

Emily: I’d say I also found it interesting what they decided to focus on with their time and detail in the movie vs. the book. Like page-wise, many parts of the book were longer and go into more detail than others, so it was interesting to see how they allocated screen time in comparison to what was written in the book..

Madelon: I think a good example of what you’re talking about would be the build-up to Amy's friends, Greta and Jeff robbing her after she is ‘gone’. In the book she really spent a lot of time with Greta and Jeff, with weeks of talking, watching tv together, and running small illegal fishing jobs for extra cash. In the movie I think we see Greta and Jeff twice before they rob her. Which I thought made the betrayal of having someone who she began to consider her friend, Greta, rob her blind. When I read this part in the book, even knowing Amy’s manipulation, I felt so bad for Amy, so hopeless for her.

Emily: Do you think Fincher could have added all of these details to the movie given the time limits people are willing to give to watch movies?

Madelon: No probably not. At the end of the day you can’t pack all the detail of a 500 page book into an under 2 hour movie. But I will say I think they could have done a more effective job of filling in the small details. It is the small details that made the film authentic to the book, isn’t it??

Emily: Definitely. Also, another small detail I noticed that they didn’t mention Amy’s fear of blood. In the book she fakes a fear of blood in order to provide more pseudo-evidence for her “murder”. I don’t think it would have taken much screen time to mention that. I also think that creating this fear of blood further adds to how much detail and planning Amy did. When I was reading the book I was like, “broooo, this girl is really out here, not missing one bit of detail”

Madelon: I agree she was one detailed mo-fo and I think that’s shown in the movie, but not to the extent that it was in the book.

Emily: Okay so conclusions about all this? Did you like how they ended the film true to the book?

Madelon: Yes I was happy they were true to the book ending, except for two things honestly.

Emily: What’s that?

Madelon: Well for one, Amy is pregnant at the end of the book, like about to pop pregnant, she does it to keep Nick as her husband and to ensure he stays with her and collaborates her made up story. But you don’t see that progression of pregnancy in the movie. And two, in the book both Amy and Nick write books about their experiences with the whole ‘gone girl’ situation, but in the movie they just go on TV together.

Emily: Haha, it’s kinda of funny that they made that second change. In the book their writing careers are so important to both of them, but in the movie they just settle for television attention. Kind of shows you the shifting values and ease of fame these days doesn’t it?

Madelon: Ain’t that the truth!!

Emily: Okay, so there were a lot more differences, but we just decided to discuss the ones we felt betrayed by. Yes, we feel personally attacked by the changes that were made. Lol, just kidding. I thought this film was cinematically pleasing and the performance from the actors were great, too. Mads? Any final thoughts?

Madelon: Good movie, quicker plot, fairly true to the book with some minor variations and omissions, but overall, the book still wins out for me.

Emily: Ditto!

Madelon: Thanks for tuning in to our first ever episode of (B)adaptations! Stay tuned for more!

Emily: Bye guys! Love you and sending tons of virtual hugs and kisses!