Twisty, twisted 'Gone Girl' scars

'Gone Girl" is a sick, twisty thriller that stings like a poison dart. Adapted from Gillian Flynn's 2012 mega best-seller, David Fincher's tense chiller unspools like a large intestine being slowly unraveled, each turn a little more gut wrenching than the last.

It's also a darkly humorous ride and a compulsively watchable indictment on marriage, the media and American life. It's one of the year's best movies, and will make for one of the most awkward date night smashes to come along in some time.

The story's zigs and zags are too delicious to give away, which makes discussing the movie difficult. Without revealing too much, it centers on the love story between Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike, absolutely on fire), who move back to Nick's hometown along the Mississippi River after they're both laid off from their magazine jobs in New York following the 2008 recession.

Their story begins as a fairy tale: Nick kissing Amy in an alley where a bakery is receiving its late night delivery, powdered sugar lightly dancing in the air. But their spark soon dulls and they settle into a slovenly routine, him sprawled out on the couch playing video games, her wondering what her place is in this Missouri town.

What's next, a baby? Divorce? Neither are viable options, especially not for Amy, an overachiever whose parents have loosely modeled an ongoing series of popular children's books — dubbed "Amazing Amy" — on her life. And then on the morning of her and Nick's fifth wedding anniversary, Amy vanishes, signs of a struggle all over their tidy McMansion. Nick calls the cops, but as the story unfolds, he becomes more and more of a suspect in her disappearance. And when a Nancy Grace-type gets a hold of the story and turns it into a media sensation, Nick becomes the scourge of the nation.

To say much more isn't fair, but that's really only the beginning, and "Gone Girl's" two and-a-half hour running time flies by like an especially gripping episode of "Dateline NBC." The cast is uniformly excellent, with Affleck turning in career-best work that calls on him to be equal parts charming and smarmy, in control and in over his head. Even if his pre-Batman bulk makes him a little too physically imposing, he's a powerhouse. But it's Pike ("Jack Reacher") who really stands out in a star-making turn that she bites into and shreds apart. It's a difficult role requiring a deft balance of softness, fury and carnal instinct, and Pike nails it.

Going deeper, Tyler Perry is electrifying as Nick's showboat lawyer, Tanner Bolt, revealing the nuanced character actor that lies beneath the Madea wig. Neil Patrick Harris is slick and weaselly as one of Amy's exes, and Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit are dynamite as the hometown cops investigating the case. And the great Scoot McNairy, in a bit role as a man who once crossed paths with Amy, leaves a lasting impression.

Fincher, working from Flynn's script, handles the story with a measured grace and unleashes exactly two virtuosic sequences, one midway through the film that turns everything in the story on its axis, the other a late inning squirmer that pushes the boundaries of the film's R-rating and will have many moviegoers ducking for cover. Meanwhile, the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross — they won an Oscar for their work on Fincher's "The Social Network" soundtrack — keeps the tension high and the dread mounting throughout.

"Gone Girl" has big things on its brain, namely about the ritual of marriage and what it does to people over time. It's sick fun that leaves a scar; popcorn entertainment that bites back. Dig in.

agraham@detroitnews.com

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'Gone Girl'

GRADE: A

Rated R for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexual content/nudity and language

Running time: 145 minutes