Gone Girl’s Hollywood Homecoming to Star Reese Witherspoon
July 18, 2012
Reese Witherspoon/Photo © Featureflash/Shutterstock
Gillian Flynn‘s post-modern crime novel, Gone Girl, was greeted with the critical equivalent of a standing ovation, highlighted by love letters from the New York Times’ Janet Maslin and Entertainment Weekly‘s Jeff Giles, who bestowed it with an A grade, an elusive honor usually reserved for literary lions working at the top of their game. Then, Flynn’s mystery, set within a marriage gone sour, shot to the top of bestseller lists. But one might argue that Gone Girl had not crested its rogue wave in the zeitgeist until comedian Patton Oswalt endorsed it with the following tweet: “I’m 50 pages into Gone Girl and it’s righteously creeping me out.”
And yesterday’s news that 20th Century Fox plunked down a whopping seven-figure sum to produce a film adaptation produced by and starring Reese Witherspoon has now officially erased any doubt that Gone Girl has officially arrived as the literary sensation of summer 2012. And it’s not as if Flynn (a former EW colleague of mine) didn’t have some stiff competition — both highbrow (Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, and Toni Morrison) and populist (John Grisham and Jennifer Weiner) — for readers’ attention.
So what is the secret ingredient that separated Gone Girl from this summer’s pack of critical and/or commercial successes? We’d be willing to wager that it has less to do with the novel’s clever plot twists, cracklingly original prose, or even its structural gambit in which the story unfolds from two incredibly unreliable narrators’ subjective points of view. Gone Girl resonates so deeply because of Flynn’s rare emotional intelligence combined with her of-the-moment subject matter that informs every page of her story of two thirty-somethings grappling with a double-dose of disillusionment at the shoddy state of their five-year-old marriage run aground on the post-infatuation shoals of boredom and selfishness. This is all happening in the wake of watching their careers vaporize after being laid off from newly extinct jobs writing for magazines. Does this resonate with anyone?
It also doesn’t hurt that Flynn delivers a portrait of a relationship fractured along familiar gender lines — men = lazy, forgetful, thoughtless, habit-bound, self-absorbed, consumed with ease over excellence; women = controlling, demanding, cold, angry, rigid, fault-finding, detached — while dodging the cliche and sentiment swamping this well-trod terrain. Put most simply, Gone Girl has attracted so much attention because it offers a startlingly clear and equally unflattering reflection of its core readership: disenfranchised Gen-X-ers suddenly adrift in relationships and careers that have fallen short of the always-fascinating media-saturated lives they were promised coming of age in the ’80s.
At this point, Gone Girl‘s adaptation remains unblemished by the kind of compromise its characters have so gracelessly endured. Reese Witherspoon is ideally cast as Amy, the novel’s Type A titular tigress. And we can only see it as a positive sign that Flynn has been enlisted to adapt her intricate cautionary tale of depraved domestic discord for the big screen. Equally crucial will be finding the right slightly oily man-child to play Nick, the handsome and inscrutable husband who seems vaguely capable of offing his wife. Our first choice for this would have to be Jude Law closely followed by Matt Damon, both of whom were brilliantly untrustworthy in “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” We also love the idea of Maggie Gyllenhaal playing Nick’s devoted sister, Go.
Feel free to serve up your top choices for the actors you’d most like to see playing the major roles in Gone Girl. And while you’re at it, we’re even more interested in your nominations for the summer’s breakout book most deserving if a big movie deal.
Tags: 20th Century Fox, bestselling summer novels, Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl, Reese Witherspoon, Relationships, Thriller
Novels by Gillian Flynn
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Finished the book ten minutes ago. Fantastic read. RW could work as Amy, but Charlize Theron has a wicked mix of vulnerability, intelligence, and fire that I think might work better. Nick is Bradley Cooper, and that’s that.
I totally agree with Jen. I finished reading it last night and kept thinking of Charlize Theron. I also like Bradley Cooper for the part of Nick.
I agree with JBV…
Jude Law is too old. 10 years ago he’d have been perfect. How about Gosling?
I love Ryan Gosling for this part! He would be the perfect Nick!
I like Bradley Cooper for Nick. As for Tanner Bold–no one but Matthew McConaughey.
I say Kate Hudson for Amy, Ryan Reynolds for Nick.
Reese is Amy.
Love, love Kate Hudson for Amy. She can do it all: Giddy. Scary smart. The Cool Girl. Bitchy. Confident. Irreverent. She can play sweet. Yet also play cold, jealeous and vengeful. Sociopathic. Not to mention she’s beautiful and the right age and body type.
Great book. I think Reese would be great as Amy, and Michael Fassbender as Nick. They’re both around the same ages as the characters in the novel.
Charlize not only would be better for the part itsself, she is also just a better actress. Bradley Cooper is too… Mainstream. I’d love to see a fresh face play Nick, not someone who you can’t help but think of their other movies. Additionally, itd be believable that a fresh actor snapped under the pressure of Charlize Theron as Amy.
Reese is perfect and I love Bradly for Nick
Reese is perfect!! She’s soo innocent looking and I bet she can pull off the evil side perfectly.. Bradley is too much of a man’s man to play Nick.. it needs to be someone goodlooking, but not AS goodlooking as Reese.. a “mama’s boy”…definitely not gosling.. eww..i don’t know.. he has to be goodlooking but not a ‘hunk’..
While I was reading the book I kept picturing Charlize Theron in Young Adult as Amy. She’d really be perfect – I think JBV summed up why perfectly . For Nick I imagined Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine. Jude Law (and maybe even Matt Damon) is too old for the role of a 34-year old.
Charlize Theron is too tall for Amy. RW could nail Amy, but I think it needs to be someone like Amy Adams. Ryan Gosling is perfect for Nick, though. Vincent Kartheiser was born to play Desi.
I vote Colin Egglesfield as Nick.
And how about a hark-haired Gemma Atkinson for Andie and Natalie Portman for Go?
Rachel McAdams would be my choice for Amy, but I’ll settle for Reese. I really hope the part of Nick goes to a lesser known actor, rather than a “Star”, or a current flavor of the month. Someone like Jonny Lee Miller, Hugh Dancy or Gabriel Macht.
I’m thinking Jake Gyllenhall for Nick.
Ryan Gosling is BRILLIANT! Had already thought of Vincent Kartheiser for Desi–also perfect.
Or wait! What about the guy who is Cary on Good Wife? For Nick…his name is Matt Czuchry. He would also be fabulous.
Joel Edgerton for Nick.
Nick is supposed to be a good few years younger than Amy. I say Reese is a great choice, and Ryan Gosling and Kristen Bell as Nick and Go.
I’m about half way through the book. Its fantastic! RW will be great in the movie. Chris pine would do well as Nick, I think
Amy – I think Reese is perfect. Although I did picture more Amy Smart while I was reading the book.
Nick – Ben Affleck
Go – Maggie Gyllenhaal
Andie – Amanda Seyfried with hair died brown is so perfect.
Desi – Vicent Kartheiser is perfect
Mrs. Elliott – Blythe Danner
I loved the book. Loved. Smart writing and emotionally right which is rare for a female writer to hit both the female and male narrative so well. I am kind of bummed by the Reese cast as Amy rumor. Hoping for someone younger, meaner with more of an edge. As far as Nick, I was thinking someone like Adrian Grenier. How about Lily Collins or Anne Hathaway as Andie? Tanner Bolt I am thinking needs to have tons of charisma like Jeremy Piven. Stucks Bentley should be Owen Wilson. he was made for a role like that. Melissa mc carthy as Boney is genius (as someone else mentioned). And the skinny guy from Flight of the conchords as Gilpin.
Love Adrian Grenier as Nick – he has the cleft chin and that smile that Nick could never surpress. Reese would be great too although I can think of many others (Amy Adams, Gwenyth Paltrow, etc.) that could fill the bill. AG would be fun with Jeremy Previn as Tanner, a reprise of their preivous Entrouage relationship. I view Desi as a preppy sort of soft guy.
I think Charlize Theron would have been awesome in this role since she would be able to pull off the second half better, but while I was reading it, I pictured someone like Reese Witherspoon- an all American blonde, sweet look. Hopefully Reese can pull off the darker side of Amy. For Nick, I think Ryan Reynolds would be interesting, but I pictured someone more like Bradley Cooper. I agree, Matthew McConahey would be great as Tanner. Maggie Gyllenhal as Go. Bylthe Danner as Amy’s mom. For Andie, Leighton Meester.
Oddly enough I found myself picturing Josh Duhamel as Nick, then Charlize or Amy Adams as Amy, Hillary Swank as Go and Joaquin Phoenix as Desi. Possibly even Amanda Seyfried as Andie.
I think Timothy Olyphant would be a great choice for Nick; And I love Maggie Gyllenhaal as Go. I don’t know if Reese Witherspoon has the depth as an actress to play such a dark role. I have only ever seen her in mostly bubble-gummy roles. Can’t wait to see the film adaptation!
Maggie Gyllenhaal is Go..no doubt
for Andie i think leighton meister
and Nick , Go´s twin..Jake
Amy is meant to be a really intellectual beauty. Reece is more bubblegum cute/pretty. You need someone more edgy so for me Amy has to be Rachel McAdams. If Rachel’s too young then Angelina Jolie as she is the right age to play Amy and also conveys vulnerability and insanity well. Pretty boy Chris Pine is perfect for Nick because Nick is decsribed as incredibly handsome. Chris also could also convincingly play shifty Nick from part 1 of the book and victim Nick from part 2. , Blake Lively as his twin Go, Matthew McConnaghy as Tanner, Halle Berry as Tanner’s wife, Sandra Bullock as Gilpin.
Mistake in last comment – Meant to say Sandra Bullock as Boney not Gilpin! Also Leighton Meester as Andie.
Josh Hutcherson (from Hunger Games—although maybe too young)…. immediately fit the bill for Nick in my mind…..
Jennifer Carpenter (from Dexter) for the part of his sister Go
Nick – John Hamm
Amy – Jessica Chastain
Go – Maggie Gyllenhall
Andie – Amanda Seyfried
Mr. Elliot – Tom Wilkinson
Mrs. Elliot – Christine Baransky
Tanner – Alec Baldwin
Boney – Frances McDormand
Nick’s Mom – Jackie Weaver
Shawna – Kristen Chenowith
Nick: Jude Law (have you seen Side Effects? He’d be perfect!)
Amy: Natalie Portman (could pull off sweet and crazy, a la The Black Swan)
Reese is alright as Amy, but I think that Gerard Butler would be a PERFECT Nick!