All Good Things (2010)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent drama about real estate heir David Marks (Ryan Gosling) who goes against his father's (Frank Langella) wishes by marrying a young woman (Kirsten Dunst) who doesn't come from the same background. The young couple start off just fine but David's personal and mental issues start to wreck the marriage and before long the wife is missing. Nearly twenty-years pass and someone decides to open the case back up after David has been connected to a couple other crimes. ALL GOOD THINGS features an interesting story based on a true story and it contains some very good performance but when the end credits started I couldn't help but think that all of the good things had been wasted. We can start off with the good stuff and you certainly have to look straight at the performances. Gosling once again turns in a very strong performance as the mentally troubled Marks. I thought the actor did a very good job at playing the troubled character without having to go with familiar bits and pieces to show how "troubled" he actually is. Gosling plays the part mostly silent and I thought this was an effective decision. Dunst also comes off extremely good and I'd dare say that she steals the film. I thought she was quite believable early on as the sweet girl who thinks she has finally reached her dreams. The actress is even better towards the end of the movie when she starts to become abused and begins to fear for her safety. I thought Dunst played the abused part very well and she was quite believable. Langella can always be counted on for a good performance and he really gets to shine here as the rather troubled father trying to help his son. The supporting cast includes some fine work by Philip Baker Hall, Michael Esper, Kristen Wiig and Lily Rabe. The biggest problem I had with the story was the direction, which just seemed all over the place. There's a lot of psychological stuff going on here but it never really jumps off the screen. While watching the movie I couldn't help but wonder what someone like a young Brian DePalma would have done with the material. Another major issue was the screenplay. This is still an unsolved case so it should go without saying that not ever question is answered but at the same time I couldn't help but feel that I left the movie not knowing anything about the lead character. About the half way point in the film Dunst tells Gosling that she doesn't know anything about him and I couldn't help but agree. It's hard to know if this was meant to be some sort of character study because if it was then we don't get to know David. Was it supposed to just be a crime picture? If so then there's really not enough questions asked about what happened. ALL GOOD THINGS is worth watching if you're fans of the cast but if you want to know about the real case then it's probably best that you get a documentary.
