COLUMN: Seyfried takes on a more intense persona in ‘Gone’
Jill (Amanda Seyfried) is a smart woman trying to connect the dots of her past. Two years ago she was abducted by an unknown person.
She spends her days methodically searching the forests surrounding Portland, Oregon, where she had been during her captivity.
She takes self defense classes to help build her confidence and give her the ability to be prepared should she ever end up in a victim situation again.
Jill and her sister Molly (Emily Wickersham) live together in the same house ever since their parents had passed away. One day Molly tries to persuade Jill to go on a double date, which Jill grudgingly accepts before heading to work at a local diner.
When Jill returns home, she is shocked to discover her sister is gone. Jill quickly tries to contact Molly and Molly’s boyfriend, Billy (Sebastian Shaw), but gets their voicemails.
Jill heads to the police, where she meets with Detective Powers (Daniel Sunjata). Powers is skeptical since the police found no evidence of Jill’s kidnapping.
A new officer and junior detective, Peter Hood (Wes Bentley), offers his assistance in finding Molly.
With no support from the cops or any of her friends, Jill sets out on her own to rescue Molly and discover the identity of the man who had taken away almost every ounce of security from her life.
“Gone” is a fast paced movie, and at just less than an hour and a half, it’s a bit short for a solid thriller of this magnitude.
As is typical with mystery films, there’s foreshadowing throughout the movie. However, the foreshadowing is too obvious in “Gone” to give too many surprises to the audience.
The story is full of enough twists and turns to keep most people guessing, but not enough to make the climax unforeseeable.
The plot was not captivating enough for my taste. I never became entrenched in the mystery and intensity the film tried to portray.
The movie basically keeps to Jill’s point of view. The audience can sometimes briefly view the story from other perspectives, but for the most part, all the learning and development is from Jill’s point of view.
However, this made it difficult to get attached to the other characters, which I didn’t enjoy.
Jill is smart most of the time, but she makes a few irrational decisions I didn’t understand. It offset my confidence in her abilities. Of course I haven’t been in her position before, so I don’t know how much emotions would affect choices. Either way, her actions seemed unbalanced in that regard.
Seyfried, known for “Mamma Mia,” “In Time,” and “Red Riding Hood,” once again assumes her typecast role playing a normal young woman other women can easily relate to. This is the most intense role I’ve seen her play. She’s still an up and rising star, but has won a number of awards already. She’s definitely one to watch in the upcoming “Les Misérables,” assuming the role of Cosette.
Sunjata, known for her roles in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” and the television series “Rescue Me,” seems to do his best being a concerned but uncaring police officer trying to deal with a seemingly crazy gun toting woman. Even though this is the first film I’ve seen him in, I must say I wasn’t impressed with his abilities. He’s a B actor at best.
Director Heitor Dhalia makes his international debut with this film. He was nominated three times and once won the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize for his previous works, but unfortunately he couldn’t deliver a film great enough to get him a strong foothold into Hollywood.
Lesser known composer David Buckley has an impressive background that gave him a unique edge in the music for “Gone.” Previously he composed the scores for “The Town,” “From Paris with Love,” and “The Forbidden Kingdom.” This time, his music was appropriate in giving an ominous mood to the entire film.
You won’t miss much if you weren’t planning on watching this film. If you’re a diehard Seyfried fan you should see it. Otherwise, wait for the rental.
“Gone” will disappear without a trace if you skip this movie.
— Spencer Palmer is a graduate student working toward an MBA with a recent bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. He enjoys watching all sorts of movies. Email him at spencer.palmer@aggiemail.usu.edu