A masterclass of manipulation
Tonight, 8.30pm, TV3 Adapted by former Entertainment Weekly writer Gillian Flynn from her own 2012 best-seller, David Fincher’s 2014 film is the tale of Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy (Rosamund Pike) Dunne and the seven years before and days and months after Amy’s sudden disappearance.
Arriving home on their fifth wedding anniversary to what appears to be a home invasion, small-town Missouri bar owner Nick can see signs of a struggle, but no trace of his wife.
However, as the investigations begin and speculation starts to mount, the spotlight starts to fall solely on Nick and the Dunnes’ seemingly less-than-stellar marriage.
Yes, as well as a tense, taut and frequently table-turning thriller, Gone Girl is also an unsettling and uncomfortable examination of modern relationships and the rising tide of disconnection. Not only between men and women, but also law enforcement and the public, the media and the truth.
Disorientatingly but not confusingly told in a cleverly wrought fractured narrative, what could have been a The Vanishing- meets- Basic Instinct bunny boiler (or as Affleck’s character puts it, ‘‘an episode of Law and Order‘‘), is instead a minor masterpiece and masterclass of manipulation and subverting expectations. – James Croot stars as money-laundering matriarch Donna Rafferty in this new Kiwi drama. Donna has been channelling ill-gotten gains through various businesses for years, but when the police cart her off to the slammer, the revelation that mum’s a doyenne of crime comes as a complete shock to her family. Jane the Virgin, 10.30pm, Prime
While Jane (Gina Rodrigeuz) thinks she is finally ready to make a decision about her love life, the main focus of this week’s episode of the popular United States dramedy is actually on Rogelio (Jaime Camil). When he learns that his nemesis, Britney Spears (who stars as herself!), is at the Marbella Hotel, he is determined to confront her about their past. About Time, 8.50pm, TV3
At times, this does feel like a Richard Curtis greatest hits collection with his usual focus on life’s ceremonies and rites, the ubiquitous best man’s speech, very English weather, AngloAmerican differences and eccentric characters. There’s even a nod to his famous Love Actually placard scene. And yet there’s something more intimate, more truthful about this tale of time travel, table tennis and tough decisions. Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy co-star in a film that contains a cadre of memorable moments (including a blacked-out initial meet cute and a spot-on ‘‘which outfit should I wear’’ montage).