Plot: What’s it about?
Lost River is the first film from writer and director Ryan Gosling. I decided that I would shell out the cash to blind buy this movie even though most of the reviews were discouraging my investment in the film to say the least. I decided to check it out because I find Ryan Gosling to be one of my favorite actors of my generation and also a pretty good judge of quality (with a few exceptions like Gangster Squad.) I had hoped that despite the poor reviews that the film would end up being up my alley, because for my tastes Half Nelson and Drive are two of my favorite movies of the last fifteen years. Also, despite the bad reviews people had mentioned that he had taken influence from Terence Malick, David Lynch, and Nicolas Winding-Refn: all of which are excellent avant-garde filmmakers. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t quite rise to the occasion of filling in for such big names.
The plot of the film revolves around a scrapper named Bones and his mother, Billy (Christina Hendricks) both living in an area of the country that is designated a lost river, a town that is all but abandoned due to the lack of outside help after the government built a dam and turned the nearby towns into a reservoir. Billy and Bones live in a small ramshackle home that the bank is going to demolish if they can not come up with the money for three months backrent. Billy also has a small toddler son. Unwilling to abandon the property, Billy and Bones both try to come up with the money. Bones is an urban scrapper. He goes into abandoned buildings and tries to strip them of copper to sell to junk yards. This runs him afoul of Bully (Matt Smith) and Face (Torrey Wigfield.) Bully claims that all of the abandoned buildings are his to scrap and is willing to murder anybody who would defy him. Meanwhile, Billy is led by a banker named Dave (Ben Mendelsohn) into an underground club where men go to see simulated acts of violence against women. That is where she meets Cat (Eva Mendes) who repeatedly is killed on stage for the pleasure of the audience. As Billy goes deeper into the job, Dave becomes more forceful with his advances. Bones also befriends a neighbor girl named Rat (Saiorse Ronan) whose grandmother (Barbara Steele) has not spoken since her husband died building the dam. Through Rat Bones is able to find the underwater town that was buried by the dam.
So, the plot itself is pretty intriguing and the actors chosen are all capable actors. Unfortunately, even though the film is beautifully shot and the score by Johnny Jewel is solid, the film never seems to find its pacing. There are honestly some really interesting scenes and art direction is good to great. Unfortunately, it is somehow missing something. It is hard to explain, but it’s possible that the film lost me during the scenes at the violence club that just sort of made my skin crawl. Also, some of the choices in the film irked me, such as the character of Bully doing this weird scream thing that struck me as overacting and should have been cut. Instead it happens three more times in the film.
The movie did not ever quite hit its stride for me, but I will definitely be the first in line to see his next film. If he can learn to trim in editing to the necessary bits, he may be a great director in the future. I would definitely not recommend buying this film and if anything sounded too over the top for you than you should avoid at all cost. Overall, if you are curious about this film like I was you will probably go ahead and check it out. Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you, and rent it before you consider buying it.
Video: How’s it look?
Warner Bros. has provided an excellent transfer for this Blu-ray. Even if the film may suffer from pacing issues it would be almost impossible to not find certain scenes that are absolutely breathtaking. Due to the film being completely shot on digital and a pure transfer there is no trace of any compression issues or any problems whatsoever. Clarity and attention to detail are pristine. The Blu-ray shines in this area and I can find no wrongdoing here whatsoever.
Audio: How’s it sound?
This audio track is well done. Surrounds are present throughout the film and really open up during the last half of the film as Johnny Jewel’s score becomes more prominent. Everything here is as it should be and I really thought this track achieved its goals of putting the viewer in the sound field. fans will be pleased.
Supplements: What are the extras?
There are no supplements at all. That is a shame as a film like this could be improved by a commentary or some sort of mission statement for what they were going for. This is a missed opportunity.
The Bottom Line
Lost River is not the absolute disaster some reviews proclaim, nor is it the rewarding experience I had hoped for. I can not recommend watching it unless you just need to solve your curiosity like I did. That said, there are signs of a great director in this film and I hope that Gosling’s next film delivers on that promise.
