Rosamund Pike’s icy performance as the sociopathic Amy Dunne in David Fincher’s Gone Girl was one of the most impressive big-screen introductions to a lead actress in some time (sure, she’d had a few supporting roles up until then, but no one is going to remember her for The World’s End or Jack Reacher). As evidenced by her Oscar nomination, Pike dug deep into the chilling center of a heartless head case, and it paid off in spades.
Now, unfortunately, it appears we’ll be seeing the actress play similar roles for the next five or so years. First up is Return to Sender, a small-scale thriller about a nurse from a small town who goes on a blind date with a man, only to realize he’s not who he says he is before she’s viciously assaulted. Rather than play the helpless victim, she embarks on a dangerous mission to take revenge, getting close to her rapist and hatching a scheme to make him rue the day he crossed her path.
That said, there’s not much other than Pike to look forward to in Return to Sender, from the looks of things. Something weird is going on with the postal system (hence the title), there’s painting involved, c-star Nick Nolte looks like he’s in pretty bad shape, and it all comes off as rather confusing and contrived.
Fouad Mikati (Operation: Endgame) directs with a supporting cast that includes Shiloh Fernandez, Nolte and Rumer Willis, but the plot looks like thoroughly bargain-bin material from this first look. Only Pike’s presence post-Gone Girl would ensure the flick a theatrical release, though it hasn’t yet set one on this side of the Atlantic. First impressions on the pic will come out of the U.K., where Return to Sender is set to open in theaters on May 22.
