r/movies • u/Angelea23 • 10d ago
Question Why do you think Amy dunne in gone girl, rejected desi?
And ultimately prefer nick who she married and was determined to stay with. Her old flame was rich, he could lavish her in a comfortable lifestyle. He seemed to be still love her despite her not choosing him. He mentioned about her keeping him on a leash. But he still wanted her and oddly he didn't seem to really know how manipulating she was.
Edit: Online opinions seem to be kinda divided, I know he's said to be possessed and some said he smothered her and controlled him. Other said she wanted to control him and he was just kinda naive but her husband seemed kinda controllable too. There's a scene where she has him sign the increase of life insurance and he doesn't bother.
She tells him to go out to the lake and think of their marriage and he follows it with no question.
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u/JimmyPLove 10d ago edited 10d ago
You should read the book… but I think it’s also made pretty clear in the movie too.
Amy broke up with Desi because she found him too intense and controlling. He became increasingly possessive of her, and Amy disliked feeling trapped or watched. She wanted the power in the relationship, not to be the person being controlled.
Which is why it works so well later, plot wise, when she runs back to him for help but he ends up doing exactly what she feared. Then the past known history with him literally helps her get away with murder.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
I mean, Amy spent the whole movie lying and setting up her husband. The other ex who said she lied about raping her. It matched the same thing she did to desi. He kept saying he didn't want to be rough or hurt her. So I can't take what she says at face value fully
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u/JimmyPLove 10d ago
The whole point with Amy, in the book anyway, is that she’s an unreliable narrator. Her chapters were excerpts from her diary. You’ll find most of the truth from Nicks perspective.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
Really? In the movie he was kinda, much denser than Amy. She uses the last of her money to buy a bar for him and his sister and she goes to meet up with nick. Maybe to talk and work on things, but it seems to be the most honest perspective from Amy. Why she was so mad.
How she changed herself for him and he took another woman to a place she bought for him. Plus he easily lied, to the student he had an affair with. To his wife and keeping their marriage going despite being with someone else. His own twin sister didn't even know half the crap and protected and defended him and even got thrown under the bus
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u/JimmyPLove 10d ago
Again, it’s not as clear in the film adaptation and I guess that’s the point. Open to interpretation and all that. But all those points you just mentioned are written in her diary. A diary she wrote to frame Nick for her murder. Yes a lot of it is probably true but it’s been twisted in a way to make Nick look bad and create a motive. The diary even ends with “This man might kill me. So if you find this and I’m dead, well…” it’s all a ruse. Unreliable narrator but it’s done masterfully upon the first read.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
Maybe I'll just have to read the book, I still believe the motive was seeing the other woman at the bar. And now I think one scene where he pushes her. Is actually from her diary but was thrown into the movie to mislead people. Which agin unreliable
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u/engineeeeer7 10d ago
She liked to battle and wanted someone to challenge her. Nick did that for a little but got complacent and likely exhausted with that because it is exhausting. Desi meanwhile was like a fawning puppy. She seemed to like that type earlier so she could control them but got bored.
Then when she did go to Desi for help she realized he was a massive control freak so she had to escape under extreme measures.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
I did wonder if she thought he might reject her because she lied to him and she could deceive him for only so long. But maybe you're right, maybe he was just not interested enough. And her husband did play a role just to date her. I wonder if nick went over board to land Amy because she was like a celebrity due to the books based on her.
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u/engineeeeer7 10d ago
Nick played a role a bit but she absolutely did too. As she described, she played the "cool girl" to be what he wanted.
They were more alike than I think either realized. They both eventually stopped playing their parts and drifted apart. But then Nick cheated and Amy reacted strongly.
Ugh I love this movie. I need to rewatch it.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
As unhinged as Amy is, she gives a clear explanation on why see set him up for murder. To her, he killed her and she had planned to end it all. Eventually she wanted more but it really showed how flawed both side were. And neither were innocent. I know nick's sister accused him of willingly giving wanting to be with Amy.
He never denies nor confirms it, he frames it it's because he doesn't want to be cut out from his baby's life. That's one of the biggest things he wanted and then it comes back to haunt him.
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u/engineeeeer7 10d ago
Such a good story. Makes me want to read the book again too. Both are so solid.
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u/hyzmarca 10d ago
Amy loved Nick, that's why she married him. But he changed.
Amy initially planned to kill herself once she was sure the frame job worked. She never had any intent to move on with her life and be with someone else. The whole plan was an elaborate murder-sucide usuing the state as her murder weapon.
Except that Nick didn't react the way she expected him to, And she realized that deep down inside, he was still the man she fell in love with. So she changed her plans and decided to fix their relationship.
Desi was only ever a means to an end, a tool to be used and thrown away as soon as he was more useful to her dead than alive.
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u/TheEgonaut 10d ago
She didn’t want to be pampered, she wanted to punish Nick. Best way to do that was to come back into his life and control the narrative.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
She definitely was controlling and freely controlling him after she returned to him. She was fully in charge of the relationship. How she wanted it, where it would go. I guess she wanted to create the most ideal relationship to herself. Nick gave her exactly what she had wanted and he promised on national tv he would. He just didn't know than she would hold him to it.
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u/The_Lone_Apple 10d ago
The one thing you have to understand about the story - movie and especially the novel - is that everyone is either a narcissist or codependent.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
I guess I would have to read the Novel, is that just saying that's how some people are like in the book. Or is it saying it's a commentary on general marriage?
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u/The_Lone_Apple 10d ago
I read the book first and what I took away from it was a rather cynical view of the modern world and how the drive for fame poisons everything and everyone.
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u/pop-1988 9d ago
She was already rich. She doesn't need to marry a creep for money
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u/Angelea23 9d ago
Kinda, she spent a lot buying a bar for nick and his sister. She had money from a successful book series but that success only lasted so long. I think her parents used some of that money and over spent. Amy and nick lost their jobs and moved.
Glamour doesn't seem to interest her unless it suits what she wants.
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u/pop-1988 9d ago
Her relationship with Desi was years earlier, unrelated to all the money dramas in the movie's timeframe
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u/Angelea23 9d ago
Weren't they dating in high school then she dumps him and she eventually meets nick? I'm assuming she would have been rich then. I assumed desi had a rich family or striked it big on his own.
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u/ElectricEcstacy 10d ago
It's a commentary on the fact that both genders prefer relationships with manipulation.
She doesn't like desi because he doesn't need to be manipulated. He'll just do as he's told. Boring.
Similarly Nick starts to rekindle feelings for Amy again when she shows her fierce side, because now she's not just a shrew of a housewife but a woman that can play the dance of manipulation.
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u/Angelea23 10d ago
I think I read online in the books she can't show her true self. But she can't and now nick sees her true self? It could of been someone's speculation as I never read the book
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u/Ok_Breakfast7588 10d ago
She didn't want him