Film Review: Ryan Gosling Cannot Save Disjointed ‘All Good Things’

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Having loved Andrew Jarecki’s “Capturing the Friedmans” and having recently named Ryan Gosling the best actor of his generation for his year-best work in “Blue Valentine,” I was psyched to fall for their collaboration on the true-crime thriller “All Good Things.” Sadly, my anticipation quickly turned to disappointment as this muddled work lurched toward a bizarre conclusion. Gosling and co-stars Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella don’t do anything wrong here but the movie is such a mash-up of tones, fiction, and reality that it never comes together into anything coherent.

Ryan Gosling always finds the most interesting ways to believably present his characters but even he seems a bit lost by what’s expected of him in “All Good Things.” The Oscar nominee plays David Marks, a very-loose approximation of the real Robert Durst, who made headlines when he was accused of mutilating his neighbor. In Jarecki’s film, Durst/Marks is the son of Sanford Marks (Frank Langella), a legendary New York figure who the film suggests is trying to push his son into a life he doesn’t want for himself, especially after meeting the wonderful Katie (Kirsten Dunst).

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “All Good Things” in our reviews section. [12]

Katie represents to David a way out of his smothering family life. He may be rich, but he’s miserable. The two fall in love, get married, and even open a store called, of course, All Good Things. They seem so happy.

Of course, there’s no movie if Katie successfully pulls David from entering the family life of crime and when the young man gives into his father’s urges and begins collecting from the seedy businesses that used to populate Times Square, tragedy seems inevitable. Just as the marriage of Katie and David is about to head toward inevitable divorce, she disappears and is never seen again. But that’s really just the beginning of David/Robert’s odd story.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “All Good Things” review. [12]

All Good Things
Photo credit: Magnolia