Gone (DVD)

Ever since Mamma Mia turned her into a household name overnight, Amanda Seyfried has been harder to get rid of than a rash. Popping up in films left, right and centre, the girl is everywhere. While that's not necessarily a bad thing (after all, she's likeable and pretty hot), she's not really imbued with the sort of star power that would see her being able to carry a weaker film. Look at the case in point – Gone.

Here's a film with a relatively simple premise - Jill's (Seyfried) sister goes missing and the fuzz aren't too enthusiastic about finding her, leaving Jill to try and track her down all on her lonesome. Not too complicated then. Well, the problem with Gone is that there's just no meat on the bones of what is ultimately a thrill-less thriller. The producers feebly attempt to pad things out but end up screwing the film up even more.

One year prior, Jill was abducted by a serial killer and thrown into a deep hole by her captor. Managing to escape in a Bear Grylls-like display of ingenuity, she reports the incident to the police. Unable to find the place she was held captive, the rozzers assume she's nuts and that she imagined the whole thing due to her having a history of mental illness. In the present day, her sister has been swiped by the very same vile fiend and, due to the cops not believing Jill the first time, the police say "sod it" and don't just leave her to her own devices, she becomes a fugitive and they actively start try to track her down rather than the abductor.

Not only is this remarkably stupid, it also means that practically all of the film's attention is focused on Seyfried. Despite playing somebody who could be insane, she emotionlessly phones in what is possibly her most vanilla performance to date – ensuring a very dull thriller in the process. Couple that with the fact that the film doesn't throw up any curveballs whatsoever and we're dealing with a film that's almost criminally bad.

It's a shame really because with a bit of a script polish and a more interesting lead character for Seyfried to chew on, Gone could have been so much better. Seeing as the DVD is dry on the extras front too, there's really no reason you should rush out to buy this.

Overall verdict: A miserable, thriller that's better off avoided.

Special Features:
None

Reviewer: Jordan Brown