Ryan Gosling made his directorial debut last year at Cannes with the film Lost River which was not well received at the highly critical film festival. After watching the visually striking trailer I thought that maybe my peers had got it wrong. The tease showed promise, it reminded me of Drive (which I liked) and featured a cast that impressed me (Doctor Who‘s Matt Smith, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D‘s Iain De Caestecker and Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks). Alas, the 95min film felt like an eternity with a creeping pace, a hodgepodge of homage to more influential directors and a narrative that confused the sentiment the film was trying to showcase.
Gosling did manage to do some things really well. First, he pulled together a top-noch cast and furthermore directed them in roles well out of their wheelhouse. As a whovian seeing Matt Smith as the cringe worthy, muscle clad, psycho Bully was intriguing. Even if you don’t know his previous work, it’s a great performance. The same goes for De Caestecker, Hendricks and Eva Mendes who has a small but enjoyable role as the late night entertainer Cat. The actors were well aware of their characters, their motivations, limitations and goals and that tells me that Gosling not only cast well but spent time developing the roles with his cast. Lost River was also incredibly well made – each shot looked like it was painstakingly framed, the cinematography was stunning and some shots were works of art. But the big issue was that nothing was original. I wanted to see something innovative from the young director instead, the movie felt more like a cover album of his favourite director’s biggest hits. An homage can only take you so far. Then there was the poorly executed narrative.
Lost River is an art film, which means that the main focus isn’t to present a well structured plot with predictably timed points of interest. Instead the goal is to show an expression of emotion or an idea in an artistic way. But that doesn’t mean the film should purposefully be odd or confusing. There are two main story lines in the film, the first involves Hendricks’s single mother Billy, who after the bank threatens to foreclose on her house accepts a job at a bizarre nightclub for the depraved to pay the bills. She’s constantly propositioned by her new boss (Ben Mendelsohn) and his advances turn more menacing as the film progresses. This is by far the stronger of the two story lines. The second plot focuses on Billy’s teenage son Bones (De Caestecker) who attempts to shoulder some of the financial burden by copper mining from abandoned buildings in an area of town Bully has claimed as his own. Naturally, Bully attempts to eradicate the thief. While on the run, Bones stumbles on a well kept town secret, that a large portion was abandoned under a man-made lake. Urged by his neighbour (and love interest) Rat (Saoirse Ronan) to “break the spell” on Lost River. So, Bones puts a pin in running away from the psychopath calling for his head to liberate the underwater city. I thought both narratives showed promise but as the film unravels (and it does unravel) they get lost in the long arduous journey that takes us to the visually spectacular finale.
Overall, Lost River is a miss. But, I’m still impressed by Gosling for not taking the safe route, for making a film he wanted to make that wouldn’t be simple or easily digested by the masses. I hope despite the response of his feature debut he still makes more films because I’d still like to see that truly original Ryan Gosling film.
Lost River will have an exclusive theatrical engagement at The Royal in Toronto from April 24th – 30th, 2015. If you’re at all curious to see this film don’t miss your chance to see it on the big screen.
