The reason why I love Gone Girl so much is because of Amy Dunne. If I had to pick out my top five favourite fictional characters in literature, Amy Dunne would be at the top of my list. Some of you may find that my fascination with Amy Dunne is kind of strange, given that she’s a complete psychopath! But funny enough, that is the exact reason why I like her so much. Her psychopathic ways make for a very enjoyable story and it is the exact reason why I think that Amy Dunne is one of the best project managers in cinematic history.
First, I want to clarify: When I say ‘project manager’, I’m not necessarily looking at her on a PMP-credentials level. I’m leaning towards the looser definition of ‘project manager’, where her high levels of organization and the meticulous planning that went into her vendetta, is what makes her a successful PM. I’m not even kidding when I say that I strive to achieve the Amy Dunne-level of intricate detail-orientation in every work that I do. Although her plan is pure evil, you can’t help but applaud her in her ability to take a very difficult project and spin it around to her advantage.
I start my argument with the first phase of project management: Project Initiation.
Project Initiation: The project initiation phase begins as soon as Amy sees her husband, Nick Dunne, kiss a student right outside of their family-owned bar. As soon as she sees Nick and his mistress, she knew that she had to come up with a plan and initiate the “Frame My Husband for Murder” project. First, Amy begins with the project scope by listing out all the things that she had sacrificed for Nick and their relationship. She goes into great details about playing the “cool girl” for Nick and how he (in her terms) took advantage of her. She believed that she forged the man of her dreams and she was not about to let him run off with a 20-year-old student. She needs this project initiation stage so that she can justify her plan to take revenge. She had a goal in mind and she was ready to act on it.
Project Planning: Amy has only one goal: frame Nick for the murder of her death. In order to achieve this goal, she outlines a step-by-step list of what she needs to do. One of the items on the list was to record a diary that told the Nick and Amy story, from the loveable beginnings to the destructive ending. She leaves this diary behind in hopes that the police find it and see that she is a victim and Nick is the abuser. Another part of the project planning stage included finding a way to involve the media to further vilify her husband. She knew that one of the key things that the media love hearing about is bad things happening to beautiful pregnant women. So she used that theory to her own advantage and added a pregnancy twist to her whole scheme. She is devilishly deceitful, and I love it.
Amy knew that she needed her own blood to spill all over the kitchen floor to make it look like a violent crime scene. Not only did she drain her own blood, but she also cleaned it up poorly to leave something behind for the police to find. The final stage of her planning was to leave behind a treasure hunt, which was cleverly disguised as a romantic anniversary gift for Nick, but was really the final nail in Nick’s coffin.
Amy even used her risk management skills to review all the potential risks that may arise, and she made sure to close these risks off before it could foil her plan. A prime example of this is when she sold her car and received cash for it, so that she doesn’t leave behind a credit trail.
The Project Launch: On the day of her disappearance, Amy made sure that she left the door open and the furniture disoriented to make it look like there was a struggle and a kidnap. She changed her appearance completely by cutting and dying her hair, and she went as far as gaining weight so that people would not recognize her on the streets. She hid herself in a dingy motel in the middle of nowhere and waited until the media caught wind of her disappearance.
Project Performance & Control: While laying low at this motel, Amy made sure that her plan was being executed by tuning in each night to watch the latest update on the Amy Dunne murder story. She became obsessed with any new detail that arose and loved how the media tore Nick apart. Unfortunately for her, Nick finally caught up to her game and figured out what she was trying to do. Nick decides to use the media to turn the story around and convince Amy to come back home. Amy’s empathy finally kicks in – for the wrong reasons, I may add- and she decides that she wants to return to be with him. I have to admit, the switch in control of this project from Amy to Nick makes Amy lose some PM brownie points
Project Close: The closing of this entire rollercoaster of a story is another project management tool that Amy used in her scheme. Once she realized that Nick wants her back, Amy knew what she had to do to close everything off. Like the good project manager that she is, Amy made sure that she tied up any lose ends that could blow her cover. Unfortunately for her creepy friend, Desi Collings – who saved Amy after she was robbed at her motel – that means killing him off in a very “sexy-torture-horror” style. Side Note: I just want to say that in the film version of this scene, David Fincher really bought this scene to life by using an amazing frame set up, exquisite lighting style, and a threatening soundtrack. All these elements created a beautiful and yet frightening kill scene. She leaves Desi’s body and returns to Nick’s arms right in front of the media cameras. She made sure to come up with a story about how Desi was abusing her and so she had no other choice but to kill him in self-defence.