“DAMAGED ROMANCE”
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella, Lily Rabe, and Philip Baker Hall
Directed by: Andrew Jarecki
MPAA Rating: R for drug use, violence, language and some sexuality
Genre: Romance and Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 41 min
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
By John Delia
What starts out to be a romantic story turns into a nightmare in All Good Things a loosely based true story involving a disappearance that could not be solved. Very chilling the movie moves along at a quick step from a budding romance that was frowned upon to the final enactment of the possible murder outcome of this unsolved mystery.
The movie centers on David Marks (Gosling) the wealthy son of the Marks Family who earned millions in the real estate business. Under the thumb of the powerful patriarch, Sanford Marks (Frank Langella), David avoids any relationships that may upset the family company. On the side he meets Kathie (Dunst), they fall in love and David takes a chance on marriage. Unfortunately as time goes on their marriage starts to breakdown due to demands put upon David by the family. When Kathie goes missing, the mystery begins.
Inspired by the Robert Durst incident, the most notorious missing person’s case in New York history, director Andrew Jarecki takes Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling’s script and puts together a searing portrait extracted from actual case records as to how things may have actually gone down. Although just conjecture, the possibilities look amazingly realistic.
Gosling rockets his acting skills with an amazing psychotic performance. This past year has been a good time to show off his talent with Blue Valentine and now All Good things. Especially in this film where Ryan goes from lover to monster showing facial expressions that bring out the sinister personality of David making him intensely believable.
What saves this film from a television movie however is the chemistry between Dunst and Gosling who heat up the screen with a touching romance and then a violent relationship. You could feel the love between the two characters as it develops into an endearing affair. When David finds himself with his back to the wall, his rage drives a blazing breakdown in all that is good.
All Good Things is rated R for drug use, violence, language and some sexuality. The film was originally rated NC-17.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Top-notch acting saves the film from an early grave. (B-)