Writer: Nurul Yezid

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Watch this if you liked: “Silence of The Lamb”, “The Bone Collector” & “Along Came a Spider”

The recent box office juggernauts such as "Marvel's The Avengers", "Battleship" and "The Cabin In The Woods" has left many films other smaller films in the lurch in finding their place amongst audiences. And the same can certainly be said for the suspense thriller "Gone", which will most likely be 'gone' unnoticed amongst the box office films.

Directed by Heitor Dhalia, a considerably unknown name in the Hollywood sphere, the film follows the story of Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried), a troubled young girl whose past as a supposed survivor of a twisted abduction and murder attempt by an unknown serial killer leaves her as a loner and a possible candidate of mental issues. Her only friend is also her sister, Molly (Emily Wickersham), a recovering alcoholic who stays together with her at Jill's house. After the horrific event, she tried to piece her life together by working as a waitress at a diner, however upon coming home from a shift one night; Jill discovers that her sister Molly has been abducted. Believing that the same serial killer from her past has come back for her sister, Jill sets out to save her sister from an impending death.

This film tries its best to follow the style of noir films, especially where the elements of sexual motivations, cynicism and the super sleuth attitude of the central character played by Seyfried is concerned. "Gone" plays heavily on its somber and dark brooding characters as its main attraction. However, notwithstanding Seyfried's decent attempt to portray such a character, the film still failed to pull off the complete noir elements to its finest.

Apart from the storyline, the director fell a step short to make use of the talented actors such as Wes Bentley ("The Hunger Games" & "American Beauty") Sebastian Stan ("Captain America") and even with Amanda Seyfried ("Mama Mia!" & "Dear John"). Besides Seyfried, all of the other supporting actors were not fully utilized, whereby their characters were not given enough screen time.

For those who are noir fans, notice that many of the scenes in the film are borrowed parts from other successful films of similar genre ("Silence Of The Lambs", "Bone Collector" and "Kiss The Girls"). But without having the skills to pull off these parts and give it a refreshing spin, the film looks rather awkward and downright silly.

If you are a fan of a noir film, do give it a go as some puzzling mystery in the movie might leave you entertained on some level till the end.

Cinema Online, 08 May 2012