All Good Things

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella, Lily Rabe, Philip Baker Hall, Michael Esper, Kristin Wiig
Directed by: Andrew Jarecki
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A New Yorker (Ryan Gosling) and his wife (Kirsten Dunst) go through ups and downs, and he is eventually suspected in her disappearance in 1982.

Review:

Tim: All Good Things is a bit of an ironic title because there aren't a whole lot of good things in this movie. Yes, the performances are pretty strong, but the film as a whole is an unsatisfying mess. I really did not enjoy much about this movie at all. I really blame the script and most importantly, Andrew Jarecki, who, unsurprisingly, is directing only his second feature film, and first non-documentary. The guy is too inexperienced to pull off a movie like this.

I felt completely disconnected from this movie from start to finish. It wasn't clear who these people were or why they were important enough to care about. I didn't know what I was supposed to feel or who I was supposed to root for. I felt like the movie jumped in halfway without providing adequate context. It is a disjointed mess of a movie that fails in all the small ways and in several of the big ones.

The emotion I felt over the majority of the movie was confusion. I was confused about Ryan Gosling's character. What was wrong with him? Was he mentally deranged? Was he just a jerk? I literally had no idea how I was supposed to approach him as a character. That ambiguity was prevalent throughout the entire film. Was I watching a dysfunctional family drama? Was I watching the story of a relationship deteriorating? Was I watching a crime story? This movie had no idea what it was supposed to be, so it vacillated between different movies, which made this feel like a patchwork- a film held together only by the tinniest of threads. It did not make for an enjoyable movie viewing experience.

The cast was easily the best part of the movie, but that isn't saying much. Ryan Gosling gave a complex, weird performance. I was impressed that he even took this role. It couldn't have been an easy, fun role. It does challenge him, which I appreciated. I would say he was good, but his performance gets a bit lost in the mess of the movie. Kirsten Dunst is surprisingly good in her role. She works well alongside Gosling. She was emotional, but also provided some nice complexity with her layered performance. I enjoyed Frank Langella in the film as well. The cast was very good, but they had almost nothing to work with. It ruined the movie.

The film does have an interesting story, but it's told so poorly that it doesn't really make sense until the end. When I realized what exactly this movie was all about, I felt disappointed that it took so long to convey that to the audience. I feel like the first hour was almost completely wasted.

All Good Things certainly could have been better. Jarecki put together a slowly plodding movie that simply does not work. I did not enjoy the movie very much at all. There is a way to make good movies, and this is not it.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Fracture, Blue Valentine, Melancholia