ROSAMUND PIKE
“Gone Girl”
OscarsⓇ Nominated Role: Rosamund Pike plays Amy Dunne, a young wife whose disappearance causes suspicion to fall on her husband.
When a particular film finds itself with almost zero support whatsoever, despite many indicators that state that it should have, you can bet that any nomination that comes out of that film will be up against the wall in terms of actually having a chance to win. “Gone Girl” is the film, garnering only this one nomination, and Rosamund Pike is the long shot. But what is clear after seeing “Gone Girl” is that Pike’s performance is brilliant, offering an in-depth and layered role that brings a character to the screen that a) we’ve never seen before and b) puts a spin on female roles as we know them. Pike plays many roles as the film unfolds and without being able to discuss any revelatory details, the audience is privy to the span of Pike’s growth through her diary and the gradual aging of her relationship with Ben Affleck’s character. But the Pike we see at the beginning of the film and the one we glimpse at the end are so incredibly different, you have to ask yourself how she pulled it off.
Rosamund Pike is absolutely stunning, for starters. And to top it off, she steps into this role with zero previous Oscar nominations and no real highlight roles prior to this jaunt with David Fincher. Yes, you may have caught her in “Jack Reacher” (2012) or one of the Bond films (“Die Another Day” (2002)), but nothing showcases her talents more than “Gone Girl,” hopefully offering a catapult for her career at the ripe age of 36. Her character of Amazing Amy Dunne is thoughtful, sexy, humorous, quick-witted, and ultimately mysterious… again, she’s many more things but twists aside, she develops right before our eyes. Her transformation even goes as far as to not wear makeup and put on weight, at least in her face, as to become almost unrecognizable.
Who’s her competition? Personally one of my favorite performances of the year (although I have yet to see the much talked about Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”), I feel the chances of Rosamund Pike winning are slightly altered because of the lack of support for “Gone Girl”. Had it been nominated for a few more award or had it even garnered a Best Picture nomination, I could probably make more of a case for why she could win, but without those things, she stands much less of a chance. With Julianne Moore winning the Golden Globe, along with most critics award, and being billed as the surefire winner, the only way Pike wins is by a surprise surge in support for “Gone Girl”. But that would be quite the long shot. In a powerful female role, adapted from a female’s novel by the same female author, this would be the perfect showcase of the importance of women in Hollywood. But nonetheless, Moore also has the overdue vote going in her favor, unfortunately putting Pike’s performance out to pasture.
// Produced by Leslie Dixon, Bruna Papandrea, Reese Witherspoon, and Ceán Chaffin //
// Directed by David Fincher//
// Dated Viewed: Monday, February 2nd, 2015 // BLU-RAY // 27 films – 21 days //
Oscar Challenge 2015 