Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter, and Wes Bentley
Amanda Seyfried is one actress who is definitely on the rise. She has the talent to do great things in her career. She just hasn't had the right roles. Having been in films such as Dear John, Jennifer's Body, and Red Riding Hood, she hasn't exactly built a stellar filmography. Seyfried is so much better than the films she makes. Unfortunately, she's added another bad film to her résumé — Heitor Dhalia's Gone.
Jill (Seyfried) has had a hard young life. Her parents died within months of each other several years ago. Her younger sister Molly (Emily Wickersham) was at one time an alcoholic. Jill herself was even abducted by a man and taken captive in the woods. After finding the remains of other victims, she somehow escaped this horrific nightmare and alerted the authorities. Because the cops could never find the abductor's campsite though, they didn't believe Jill and thought she was crazy. They even had her involuntarily committed to a mental institution for several months.
In the present, Jill lives with her sister Molly in a home in Portland. Molly is preparing for her microeconomics final the following day. Meanwhile, Jill goes to work her night shift at a local diner. When Jill returns home in the morning the next day, she finds that Molly is missing. All clues point to the fact that her sister was taken by the same abductor who took her some time ago. Jill notifies the police, but they do nothing. The cops think Jill is insane. To save her sister, Jill must find and confront this killer on her own terms.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Amanda Seyfried is a talented actress. She certainly gives a good performance in Gone as the pathological liar Jill. The problem is that she's not enough to carry the movie. Gone is a pretty preposterous thriller. It's Taken on crack. Jill's sister is abducted. In light of this, Jill vows to find her sister’s abductor and kill him. That sounds like very familiar territory. It's a lot more believable though when you have the badass Liam Neeson as opposed to the vertically challenged Seyfried.
The biggest problem with Gone is that it's poorly written. Screenwriter Allison Burnett leaves a lot to be desired from the screenplay. There are entirely too many issues with the story. Burnett can't decide whether she wants to write a psychological or mystery thriller. She focuses on Jill's mental issues too much. That time would have been better spent developing a more menacing killer because she doesn’t build the mystery surrounding this character enough.
On top of this, Burnett puts nonsensical crap in the film. For instance, Seyfried's Jill is able to use duct tape as a clue to help find Molly's abductor. That's a pretty weak link to this mysterious figure because anyone in the free world could have duct tape. It's a fairly useful household product. I certainly have some in my closet at home. These sorts of shenanigans show that Burnett certainly got quite a bit wrong in this screenplay.
Gone is a terrible movie that needs quite a few rewrites. It could have been so much more. With Amanda Seyfried as the star, they certainly have the right talent. They just have everything else wrong. I hesitate to give this film a wasted rating though only because Seyfried gives a good performance. Gone gets a 0.09% rating. Have some margaritas with his one. I do warn that you may need to top them off with some extra shots of tequila.
