Gone

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Sunjata, Jennifer Carpenter, Sebastian Stan, Wes Bentley, Nick Searcy, Socratis Otto, Emily Wickersham
Directed by: Heitor Dhalia
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: PG-13
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A girl (Amanda Seyfried) still struggling with the memory of being kidnapped and narrowly escaping death is devastated when her sister disappears. She's convinced the same man who kidnapped her has come for her sister, and when the police don't believe her, starts her own frantic search.

Review:

Tim: Gone isn't a bad thriller, but it doesn't exactly work very well, either. The movie does keep the audience guessing, which is definitely a good thing. Unfortunately, there's also far too many cliches and gaps in logic that ultimately sinks the movie.

The central story is fairly interesting. A girl who escaped the clutches of a serial killer is convinced he's come back and has kidnapped her sister. The movie does a good job of keeping us guessing. Our protagonist's credibility is questioned, as we learn that the police suspect she completely fabricated her original kidnapping (not a shred of evidence) and spent some time in a mental institution. This makes us wonder if the whole thing is just in her crazy mind. We also have the mystery of whether her sister was actually kidnapped at all. She's not around, but she's also an alcoholic, so perhaps she had a relapse? There's quite a few different mysteries involved in this film, which keeps you guessing. I liked that aspect. It was also fun to see a change of pace by having the central character be a female. Hollywood doesn't make enough of these kinds of films. It certainly gave the movie a different quality.

I wasn't very impressed with Amanda Seyfried in the lead role, however. I'm just not convinced that she is a strong actress. I can't think of one of her movies that I actually, truly liked. She is okay here- nothing special, but she does enough to at least keep us fairly interested in the film. The movie would have been better if she connected more with the audience. Her performance left me feeling ambivalent.

Unfortunately, no one in the supporting cast steps up, either. Daniel Sunjata added nothing to the film. Jennifer Carpenter was completely wasted in a boring role. Sebastian Stan had nothing to do. Wes Bentley literally did nothing in the film except make a couple of phone calls. This is definitely Seyfried's show, but I was really surprised the script didn't give anyone else a single thing to really do. Whatever talent that was collected her was collectively wasted.

The movie does do a fairly good job of keeping you guessing. While it isn't overly difficult to predict who the kidnapper was early on, the movie did enough to make you wonder by suggesting a few possible suspects. Now, I did laugh a number of times throughout the movie because of ridiculous plot holes or gaps in logic (or events that were a little too convenient happening to advance the story). However, I was also engaged throughout the movie. Many events were quite implausible (for example, escaping from the police never looked so easy), but despite this, I still wanted to see how it all concluded.

Gone isn't a very good movie, but it does enough to hold our attention. It was an okay movie, which isn't good enough, but I suppose it could have been a lot worse. This is another forgettable thriller, however.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Red Riding Hood, One for the Money, The Lovely Bones