With David Fincher's "Gone Girl" having made its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, reviews are out, and audiences are raving about the film.

However, the ultimate question is: Will it live up to the Oscar buzz that has been talked about for months?

Fincher has received two Oscar nominations in his entire career, and only two of his acclaimed films have went on to get nominated for Best Picture. "Gone Girl" has a couple of pros and cons against the best picture argument.

The film has received relatively great reviews with many critics raving about the tone and about the performances by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. It has also been praised for its score, cinematography, editing and screenplay. These are positives, especially if the film wants to get nominated for Best Picture.

However, it is an extremely dark film and it also falls into the genre trappings that the Academy likes to avoid when nominating Best Pictures. Its tone also shifts, and sometimes it can be extremely violent and at others extremely comic.

Some of Fincher's best films have included "Fight Club," "Se7en" and "Zodiac." These films were not nominated for Best Picture, even though they are regarded as modern day classics and are acclaimed.

Instead, "Fight Club" only received a nomination for Best Sound Editing, while "Se7en" only received a nomination for Best Editing.

Back in 2011, Fincher had the same fate with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" as the film was extremely well regarded, but failed to get the Best Picture nomination. Instead, it obtained nominations for Best Actress, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing.

So now that the critical verdict is out, "Gone Girl" is most likely a lock in multiple categories, but not Best Picture. For starters Rosamund Pike is most definitely one of the few Best Actress contenders this year and one that will definitely get nominated. Her role is extremely juicy and difficult, and it is the type of transformative role that the Academy loves to reward.

The Best Editing category is also one that can be expected as Fincher's films have consistently been nominated in this category and have won the award twice. "Gone Girl" may be two and a half hours, but it moves at a relentless pace, and as a viewer you don't want the film to end.

The Adapted Screenplay category is something Gillian Flynn will be nominated for, as well. Flynn's script was well-regarded, as she was able to cut down a 500-page book into a two-and-a-half movie. It is also an intricately put together story that is extremely easy to follow and extremely complex with well put together characters.

During the press conference for the film's premiere at the New York Film Festival, Flynn admitted that the process was intense and difficult.

"For me, I realized the important thing was to not be slavishly devoted to exactly every plotline but to make sure that it ultimately felt like the book. I was very concerned with the tone and keeping the heart of it. Not turning it into a "Who Done It." Keeping the relationships. Keeping the weird nuances intact," she stated.

The Sound Editing and Mixing categories are also spots that the film could easily take as the film manages to create a balance between dialogue, music and sound effects. However, these categories are hard to predict especially since the Academy likes to award special effects driven films in these categories.

One other category that "Gone Girl" could easily qualify for is the Best Score prize. Trent Reznor composed a score as noted in the Latin Post review that is "relaxing in its context but eerily unsettling out of context."

During the press conference, Fincher revealed that he told Reznor that he wanted "ambient loops that one hears over and over and over again at the spa. Like when they get the back rub. You want to hear that kind of reassuring, assuaging music." And the composer clearly delivered.

Reznor already has an Oscar for "The Social Network," and if Gone Girl's music starts getting acclaim, then perhaps Reznor could be on his way to a second one. However, if the Academy finds it too similar to his previous work on "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," then it will most likely falter.

This leads to the Best Director and Best Picture category. This year is lacking in auteur directors and familiar Academy favorites. Fincher has become a favorite of awards circles over the past years and that could be helpful to his campaign. Additionally, he is a well-respected director who has obtained great performances from his actors and one that many members of the Academy believe is overdue.

During the press conference, the actors praised the director tremendously.

"It was great to work with David and I learned a great deal from him. And it was pleasure to be around him and it was a true learning experience and I loved it. And I would do it again and again a million times. It was a joy," Ben Affleck said.

"The level of brilliance and genius was so impressive to me and I walked away hopefully that I'll do better in my own films," Tyler Perry said.

Neil Patrick Harris talked about the environment that Fincher created for his actors and how it led them to brilliance.

"He demands a high level of excellence while you are performing. ... The way he communicates with people is calm and confident. He wasn't talk at you, he was talking with you," Harris said. "[I got] an empowering ability to work hard and a calm, comforting confidence that you knew you were in good hands."

However, if the film fails to take off in the rest of the categories, it is unlikely a director nomination will happen.

The same will happen in the Best Picture category. If the genre element is brought to the forefront and the Academy overlook the other qualities it has, then it will undoubtedly not get nominated. However, given the somewhat weak field and the fact that the film has been met with favorable reviews, it could easily be among the top films this year. Since there are now more than five films in the Best Picture category, the movie could get nominated for Best Picture but ultimately not get the director nomination.

Another thing that could help the film propel its position in the Best Picture race is its box office. Distributor 20th Century Fox will open the movie on Oct. 3 in wide release and faces little competition. The movie also has had a strong marketing campaign, which could give it a solid opening weekend. If the movie is strong at the box office, this could be reason enough for the Academy to vote for it. In the past 10 years, five of the 10 winners have went on to make $100 million, which shows the Academy also intends for audiences to see the movies and for the Best Picture to have enough visibility.

All in all, "Gone Girl" could end up being divisive, but with a few months to go, all it needs is a couple of critics' awards and to make a number of Top 10 lists.

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