Review No.61: Gone

Every time I watch a film which is really dull I do wonder who threw so much money at a project that had a poor script and no real reason to care about its character. Sure the makers of Gone have got a name above the credits in Amanda Seyfried however I'm not sure if she's that much of a proven commodity to draw money on her own. I couldn't even really tell you into which genre Gone falls however according to the notes on the net it's classed as a thriller even though I can tell you I wasn't thrilled once. The film sees Seyfried play Jill a woman who a year ago had supposedly been kidnapped, thrown into a hole and almost died however with no evidence for this she was briefly institutionalised and now lives with her sister. When her sister goes missing she believes the same man has abducted her in order to get to Jill however when they refuse to help she goes off on her own to try and hunt her sister down. When she pulls a gun to get some information the police get involved so know not only does she need to find her sister before she is killed but she also has to get the police off her back. This essentially involves her running around and telling a different lie to everyone she meets which includes an elderly relative of some description. As Gone built to a climax I was waiting for a big reveal and had several twists built up in my head ready to go, I knew it! However this film possesses possibly one of the flattest endings I've ever seen in a 'thriller'.

The problem with Gone is that I felt no real connection to Jill and so really didn't care whether the events were real or if they were in her head. This is no fault of Seyfried who does a good job with the very little she is given however I feel a film like this really doesn't suit her as she is better as a quirky character in comedies or romantic dramas. Seyfried is given little support in a cast which includes brief popping up parts from Jennifer Carpenter and Wes Bentley with the latter playing a mysterious copper who seemingly was taken with Jill however this storyline just dies towards the final reveal. The camera-work is just alright but not nearly as erratic as it should be for a film of this nature however it's a masterpiece when compared with the atrocious script that follows the same pattern constantly as well as making every character seem like a bit of an idiot. The supposed twist at the end just came out of nowhere and by that point I really wasn't that bothered who had done what to who I was just glad that this film had come to an end. I really don't see how this got a cinema release as it feels like a TV movie or at the very least a straight-to-DVD release. Even though I've just finished watching this I'm struggling to remember what happened which tells you the impact that this dull and uninteresting film had on me.

Verdict: Dull with a bad repetitive script it's only because I feel sorry for Amanda Seyfried that I'm going to award Gone 2/10