Gone, and soon forgotten: Gone Girl

OK you can't believe the story for one minute, nor are you meant to, but the David Fincher/Gillian Flynn (who adapted her own novel for the screen - often an exercise in futility as writers are completely unable to cut their precious scenes or even words, but in this case one suspects that Flynn was thinking "screenplay" even as she was writing her novel) production of Gone Girl will keep you watching and wondering: who the hell are these people? It's well paced - even at its 2+ hour length (so it's hardly taut), well acted, a completely professional treatment of material that keeps you engaged until you stop one moment to think about it and realize the whole thing is completely ridiculous - unless you can swallow the premise: Amy (Rosamund Pike) was treated poorly by her parents, children's book authors who made her thru  the "Amazing Amy" book series into America's favorite little girl marries Ben Affleck and the two live unhappily ever after. One of the surprises is that we're thinking, or at least I was, that I'm supposed to like this rich, spoiled couple but they're both completely repulsive - and at some point you realize, yes, that's the point - they're supposed to be repulsive. But who's more repulsive? You know from the title that Pike takes off from the marriage - but has she run away, been abducted, or been murdered? For those who haven't read the book or seen the film, spoilers galore coming: It doesn't take too long before we learn that she is alive and has staged a fake abduction or murder scene, run away from her crappy marriage, making it appear that Affleck killed her, and that she does plan to kill herself as well. Who does this? Only in movies (or books destined to become movies)! Only in movies do all them crazy scheming plot elements come together perfectly, and only in movies do the characters live such isolated lives that nobody realizes they're gone off the rails. What makes this one a little bit above the rest is that Pike's plan does begin to unravel when, following her escape and while she's holed up in a crummy motel, she gets robbed - so she has to go to plan b, contacted on old boyfriend, who puts her up for a while, until she murders him and makes it look as if she's been raped - returning home bloody, resuming her marriage, the two of them entwined in each others'  lies and schemes. The media frenzy that follows this story is like a Greek chorus, very effective element; two of the minor characters - Affleck's sister (Carrie Coon) and the local detective (Kim Dickens) are very good. Does anyone else notice that there are more female detectives working in the movie industry than in the entire nation's police force combined, by the way? All told, a movie that will keep your interest but it's pretty preposterous and paper thin.