How a bad relationship can make a good girl go bad…
I love a good movie, but I cannot call myself a movie buff only because I am too fussy. Oddly I do not enjoy the feeling of being boxed in a theater compelled to live up to the commitment of giving three hours of my life to something that may or may not satisfy my intellect. I much prefer watching movies at home where I have the option to walk off if need be.
Obviously, there are times when I do pick a movie I HAVE to see as soon as it is released. Gone Girl, was one of them. From the time the promos were out my interest in the movie started peeking. It wasn’t just the charisma of Ben Affleck that led me to the theater but the entire concept, the suspense, the way the story was sold telling you just enough to draw you near – a marriage gone wrong, a wife gone missing, revenge, murder, who knows the cause.. Finally I watched the movie and it was well worth the build up and my time. Fun, electric, full of twists however quite disturbing if delved deeper into.
The same week as I watched Gone Girl I came across the movie The Lunchbox running on TV. I had seen the movie earlier when it had released in 2013, but since I had some free time I watched it again. While Lunchbox doesn’t have the feel good factor I look for in a flick, it has depth, great acting and a kind of morose pace that keeps you gripped; one of those movies where you know there isn’t going to be a happy ending but you hang on to subtle hope.
Since Gone Girl was so fresh in my mind I was bound to draw comparisons between the two movies. Gone Girl and Lunchbox to me are two movies built on the same premise, although worlds apart in terms of characters and settings. Two women who find themselves trapped in stale marriages to which they have dedicated a good part of their lives only to feel neglected, taken for granted and frustrated. Both women in their own extremely different ways struggle to break away from the dissatisfaction and obscurity of their domesticity. While Ila (Lunchbox) first tries and fails to win her husbands affection and infuse some romance in their marriage, she finally finds refuge in a faceless companionship through the exchange of letters with a man she chances upon. On the other end of the spectrum, Amy’s (Gone Girl) frustration and disappointment drives her to take drastic (read crazy) steps to avenge herself and in a strange way even attempts to save her marriage.
Maybe my correlation of these movies is wrong since they are so different but I found a very similar thread running through them. Both movies highlight how frustration in a relationship can lead human nature to the brink. Both the movies are good entertainment but neither really inspire. At some level the message that comes through them is that the need to seek gratification from another is so strong and over whelming that it can drive you to extremes. None the less, you cannot make a judgment till you wear those shoes. So if you haven’t already, should definitely watch both the movies for their brilliant performances, deep characters and intriguing story lines.
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