Ryan Gosling

BARBIE: a marriage of the intelligent and the silly

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Photo caption: Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in BARBIE. Courtesy of Warner Brothers.

Thanks to a brilliant screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie is a spectacular marriage of the intelligent and the silly, and manages to celebrate a commercial brand amid pointed social satire. It’s delightfully funny throughout, and the third act is a crescendo of hilarity.

Gerwig and Baumbach have imagined a world in which the various versions of Barbie dolls, including Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie), live in Barbie land, a female-centered but naïve, utopia. Developments force Barbie to leave Barbie Land on a mission to the human-populated Real World, and Ken (Ryan Gosling) stows away on her quest; because they live in a fantasy world, the two are unprepared for the harshness and ambiguity of the Real World, and their return to Barbie Land sparks disharmony. Will Barbie and Ken figure out their respective places in the universe?

Gerwig and Baumbach have somehow crafted a film that will satisfy those who treasure their Barbie doll, memories, those who are disturbed by Barbie’s impact on women’s body images and sexual objectification, and those who just dismiss the Barbie silliness. (I came to Barbie with one indelibly painful Barbie memory – from my bare feet stepping on Barbie shoes.) The biggest laughs come from Barbie’s relentless skewering of toxic masculinity.

America Ferrera in BARBIE. Courtesy of Warner Brothers.

Robbie and Gosling are both excellent, and there’s a huge cast of familiar stars playing various Barbies and Kens. I think that the real star of Barbie is America Ferrera, who plays Gloria, an actual human woman who befriends Barbie in the Real World. Gloria is a workaday Every Woman struggling to navigate life under the withering scorn of her teenage daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). Both Ferrera and Greenblatt deliver superlative performances, and Ferrara gets to deliver the pivotal monologue in the film.

Because much of the humor derives from surprising the audience, I am being very careful to avoid spoilers, but I can say that Barbie’s many highlights include:

  • an inspired use of the Indigo Girls’ song Closer to Fine; it’s very funny to hear Barbie characters singing it, and it has the lyrics of existential inquiry, which is what Barbie is engaged in, as silly as that sounds.
  • the performance of Kate McKinnon, perfectly cast as Weird Barbie.
  • a hilarious turn by Michael Cera as Ken’s Friend Allen;
  • a breaking-the-fourth-wall aside by narrator Helen Mirren that brings down the house.
  • one of the funniest final lines of any movie comedy.
  • closing credits with real Barbie toys, including the discontinued ones: Growing Up Skipper, pregnant Midge, etc.

It’s been a while since a movie made me laugh until I cried, but that happened when i watched the campfire guitar serenades and the “battle of the Kens”.

I rarely complement capitalists, but I am grateful to Warner Brothers for assigning a project that could have been simplistic, exploitative schlock to an artist like director Greta Gerwig. And Mattel is a very good corporate sport to have have its corporate culture, its CEO (Will Ferrell) and even its headquarters building thoroughly mocked.

At a minimum, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach certainly deserve Oscar nominations for Original Screenplay and America Ferrara should get an Oscar nod for Supporting Actress. Barbie is one seriously funny movie.

THE GRAY MAN: an action movie highlight show

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Ryan Gosling in THE GRAY MAN. Courtesy of Netflix.

Ryan Gosling stars in the kickoff of a Netflix espionage thriller franchise, in The Gray Man. It’s a top rate action film directed by the Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe (Arrested Development, The Avengers and Captain America) .

Gosling plays a highly skilled covert operative with a back story thatreally doesn’t matter – just think of him as a renegade American James Bond.

There are six, count ’em, SIX, amazing action set pieces , at least as good as in any James Bond film. The effect is like watching an all-highlight show like ESPN’s Sportscenter, where every football clip is an amazing TD catch and every baseball clip is a walk-off home run. No need for much dialogue or character development in between, That’s okay – The Gray Man isn’t trying to be more than it is – glossy entertainment.

There’s a reason that Ryan Gosling is a Movie Star in the best sense of the phrase. He has a special charisma before the camera, and we are driven to watch him and to sympathize with him. Of course, he’s a remarkably versatile actor who can be heroic, stolid, sexy, dangerous, funny, lovelorn and even musical. Gosling has brought whatever was needed to excellent cinema like La La Land, Drive, The Ides of March, The Big Short, The Place Beyond the Pines and Crazy, Stupid Love, and even to crap like Gangster Squad, First Man and the execrable Only God Forgives. Gosling is a perfect choice to lead a franchise like The Gray Man, and his acting chops are not challenged here.

Netflix’s bankroll provides the Russos with an impressive cast. Chris Evans is a worthy villain to match up with Gosling, and Ana de Armas is a glamorous sidekick. The great Alfre Woodard, along with Billy Bob Thornton, show up in key roles. There’s a very brief flashback to a rotten father figure, close to a non-speaking part, and the Russos were able to utilize the always memorable Shea Whigham in this tiny part.

The supporting roles of Jessica Henwick (Nymeria Sand in Game of Thrones) and Tamil superstar Dhanush set them up for key roles in future chapters of the Gray Man franchise.

The Gray Man streams on Netflix.

LA LA LAND: romantic, vivid and irresistible

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LA LA LAND
LA LA LAND

There’s a profound love story at the heart of La La Land, and it’s told with extravagant musical, visual and acting artistry. In dazzling performances, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star as struggling artists (actress and jazz pianist) in contemporary Los Angeles who meet and fall in love. Neither the actress or the musician can buy a break in their careers, and the tension between sticking to their passions and compromising for popular success will determine the future of their relationship. They can’t resist each other, and we, the audience, can resist neither them or La la Land.

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are Movie Stars in the best sense of the phrase.  Each has a special charisma before a camera; we are driven to watch them and to sympathize with them.  There’s a scene when Stone’s character is dining with another man, hears background music that reminds her of Gosling’s and runs to join him at the Rialto Theatre; it’s as authentically romantic as any scene in any movie.  When Gosling’s character lashes out and says something hurtful, the expression in Stone’s eyes is absolutely heartbreaking.

La la Land employs music and dance to tell its story in as immersive an experience as in the great 1964 French drama The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.  The original music by Justin Hurwitz (Whiplash) is excellent.  John Legend co-stars as the leader of an emerging band. The dancing in La La Land is the real thing – we see the full bodies dancing like we did with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly – no phony close-ups and quick cuts.

They are no Fred and Ginger, but Gosling and Stone dance well enough; Gosling started out as a Mouseketeer, after all.  Gosling’s voice is not strong, but it’s pleasing (think Chet Baker).  Stone finally gets to really belt one out near the finale.

Gosling plays the piano – really plays it – magnificently.  Liz Kinnon is credited as Gosling’s piano teacher/coach – and she must have done a helluva job.

All of this comes from writer-director Damien Chazelle,  a 31-year-old guy from Rhode Island who most recently made Whiplash.  Chazelle has served notice that he’s a remarkable talent.

Chazelle’s use of vivid colors is at the core of La La Land’s hyper-stylized look.  Right in the opening scene, notice the colors of cars in the opening traffic jam and then the colors of clothes on the motorists that burst into a production number.  Carried throughout the movie, Chazelle’s use of the color palette made me think of the films of Pedro Almodovar.  The production design is by David Wasco, who has worked on six Quentin Tarantino films and movies ranging from Rampart to Fifty Shades of Grey.  It’s one of the best-looking movies in years.

LA LA LAND
LA LA LAND

As befits its title, La La Land is a love letter to Los Angeles.  We see locals doing the tourist thing, which I think is very cool, as the stars take in the Watts Towers and the Angels Flight Railway.  In a joint homage to LA and to the movies, our lovers watch Rebel Without a Cause at the Rialto and then sneak in the Griffith Observatory after dark themselves.

La La Land’s epilogue is as wistful and emotionally powerful as the storied snowy one in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. This fantasy montage is the emotional climax of La La Land and perhaps its cinematic highlight.

It’s worth noting that golden age of movie musicals was when the Greatest Generation enjoyed them as a diversion from the Depression and world war.  We’re well past the apex of movie musicals, but, every so often, a musical arrives at a moment when we are ready to embrace one (Grease, Fame, Flash Dance, Chicago).  Now – after the election campaign of 2016 and as the new administration prepares to take over the government – is such a moment.

La La Land is a profound love story, exquisitely told with music, dance and superb acting.  It’s a landmark in cinema and one of my Best Movies of 2016.

THE NICE GUYS: good dirty fun in the dirty air of 1970s LA

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Ryan Gosling and Angourie Rice in THE NICE GUYS
Ryan Gosling and Angourie Rice in THE NICE GUYS

Director Shane Black created the Lethal Weapon franchise, so he is pretty much the Jedi Master of the mismatched cop buddy genre.  His latest action comedy, The Nice Guys, is an entertaining romp through 1970s LA.   Russell Crowe plays LA’s toughest goon – but a goon who is a man-of-his-word stand up guy.  Ryan Gosling plays LA’s seediest private eye, a morally ambiguous drunk and and an epically unreliable single dad.  Circumstances force them to work a mystery together, and the fun begins.

Ryan Gosling delivers a comic tour de force performance.  His losing battle with the door of a toilet stall rates with the best work of Charlie Chaplin and Peter Sellers. He even delivers a reaction that’s a wonderful homage to Stan Laurel.  Crowe turns out to be a very able straight man.

The MacGuffin that the guys are chasing is the print of a porn flick with an activist political message.  The conspiratorial villain is Detroit’s US auto industry.  The plot is so absurd that it’s actually a pretty fair parody of another genre – the paranoid political thriller.  In a nice touch, the super scary evil hit man doesn’t look a bit like you would expect.

And then there’s the private eye’s child rearing habits, which today would prompt calls to Child Protective Services.  Just like much of the fun in Mad Men is the interior smoking, day drinking and secretary-chasing, here we get to mock the capital I Inappropriateness of Gosling’s 1970s single dad. He lets his 13-year-old hang out at a vacant lot after dark and then accompany him to a drug-filled bacchanalian orgy.

That daughter is played by Aussie child actor Angourie Rice, who is just about perfect in this role.  The last two-thirds of The Nice Guys becomes a three-hander with Crowe, Gosling and Rice.

Black takes us right back to the late seventies with more than just bad clothes, hair and music.  We see gas lines, smog alerts, crawling freeways and pre-catylitic converter cars.  Characters write checks, and there’s nary a cell phone.

The Nice Guys may not be deep, but it sure is funny.  (And it sets up a sequel.)

DVD/Stream of the Week: The Place Beyond the Pines

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Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes in THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

According to the Old Testament, “the iniquity of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons”. Indeed, the successes and flaws of fathers, and the choices they make, impact their sons. And sons are often driven to be like or unlike their fathers, to match them or to surpass them. That is the territory explored in writer-director Derek Cianfrance’s intelligent drama The Place Beyond the Pines. (The story is set in Schenectady, New York, and the title refers to the Mohawk origin of the town’s name.)

At first, the story follows a familiar path for a crime drama – a motorcycle trick rider (Ryan Gosling) turns to bank robbery and has an encounter with a cop on patrol (Bradley Cooper). But the screenplay embeds nuggets about how both men feel about their fathers and how those feelings drive their actions. Both men have infant sons, and the father-son theme becomes more apparent as the story resumes fifteen years later with a focus on their own sons as teenagers.

I can’t remember a recent performance by Ryan Gosling that hasn’t been compelling, and he’s outstanding here, too. But the unexpected gem is Bradley Cooper, who shows us acting depth and range that we haven’t seen in his earlier work. Especially in scenes with a police psychiatrist and when forced to ask his father for advice, Cooper exposes the naked vulnerability of his character.

The Place Beyond the Pines is replete with excellent performances. Eva Mendes plays the mother of Gosling’s baby, and her performance stands up to Gosling’s – no small feat. Harris Yulin is superb as Cooper’s canny father. The wonderful Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom, Killing Them Softly) plays Gosling’s crime partner. Ray Liotta, who often plays shady characters, has never been so menacing.

I found the character of Cooper’s son to be very unsympathetic; he is supposed to be a kid messed up by his parents’ divorce and father’s inattention, and I think that the story would have worked better if it were easier to look past his obnoxiousness to appreciate his damaged nature. Still, it’s a film that I’m still pondering a day later. Cianfrance made Blue Valentine, the hard-to-watch but starkly authentic story of an unraveled relationship, an acting showcase for Gosling and Michele Williams. The Place Beyond the Pines is just as thoughtful and more accessible than Blue Valentine. Pines is an ambitious and mostly successful film.

The Place Beyond the Pines is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, GooglePlay and other VOD providers.

Only God Forgives: laughably bad

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ONLY GOD FORGIVES

I can say only three good things about Only God Forgives. First, it’s not painfully bad, but laughably bad.  Second, the great Kristin Scott Thomas is on-screen for 10-15 minutes in an outlandishly campy role.  Third, this week presents the rare opportunity to see the best of cinema (The Hunt) and the worst (Only God Forgives) in a perverse double feature.

After combining on the thrilling Drive, director Nicholas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling return with Only God Forgives,  a hyper-violent revenge tale.  I loved Drive, with Winding Refn’s vivid colors and taut pacing, its shocking violence and Gosling’s evocative performance. Only God Forgives reprises the garish palette, but fails on the other aspects.

Gosling’s character, a pro kick-boxer and the henpecked son of a female crime lord,  has little so personality that he could have played by Keanu Reeves.  The exploitative violence doesn’t have the shock value of Drive’s.   But, most unforgivably, the pacing drags.  Winding Refn tries to deliver gravity by inserting pregnant pauses between virtually each shot.  Typically, one character looks off camera, and there’s a pause and a dramatic musical chord; then another character looks back, with another pause and another chord. Look Pause Chord Look Pause Chord Look Pause Chord ad nauseam.

Kristin Scott Thomas plays Gosling’s evil mom and gets to utter this unforgettable line: “How many cocks can you entertain in that cute little cumdumster of yours?”.

Playing the cop villain, Thai actor Vithaya Pansringarm walks deliberately – very deliberately – around Bangkok and is very good at moving his eyes without moving his head.  Oddly, after mutilating yet another person with his hidden sword, he enthralls a roomful of uniformed cops by crooning a karaoke ballad.

Highly anticipated (because of Drive), Only God Forgives got trashed by critics at Cannes and been reviled upon its US release.  Only After Earth, The Lone Ranger and Pacific Rim may keep it out of the bottom spot as the year’s worst major release.

The Place Beyond the Pines: the sins of the fathers visited upon the sons

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Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes in THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

According to the Old Testament, “the iniquity of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons”.  Indeed, the successes and flaws of fathers, and the choices they make, impact their sons.  And sons are often driven to be like or unlike their fathers, to match them or to surpass them.  That is the territory explored in writer-director Derek Cianfrance’s intelligent drama The Place Beyond the Pines.  (The story is set in Schenectady, New York, and the title refers to the Mohawk origin of the town’s name.)

At first, the story follows a familiar path for a crime drama – a motorcycle trick rider (Ryan Gosling) turns to bank robbery and has an encounter with a cop on patrol (Bradley Cooper).  But the screenplay embeds nuggets about how both men feel about their fathers and how those feelings drive their actions. Both men have infant sons, and the father-son theme becomes more apparent as the story resumes fifteen years later with a focus on their own sons as teenagers.

I can’t remember a recent performance by Ryan Gosling that hasn’t been compelling, and he’s outstanding here, too.  But the unexpected gem is Bradley Cooper, who shows us acting depth and range that we haven’t seen in his earlier work.  Especially in scenes with a police psychiatrist and when forced to ask his father for advice, Cooper exposes the naked vulnerability of his character.

The Place Beyond the Pines is replete with excellent performances.  Eva Mendes plays the mother of Gosling’s baby, and her performance stands up to Gosling’s – no small feat.  Harris Yulin is superb as Cooper’s canny father.  The wonderful Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom, Killing Them Softly) plays Gosling’s crime partner.  Ray Liotta, who often plays shady characters, has never been so menacing.

I found the character of Cooper’s son to be very unsympathetic; he is supposed to be a kid messed up by his parents’ divorce and father’s inattention, and I think that the story would have worked better if it were easier to look past his obnoxiousness to appreciate his damaged nature.  Still, it’s a film that I’m still pondering a day later.  Cianfrance made Blue Valentine, the hard-to-watch but starkly authentic story of an unraveled relationship, an acting showcase for Gosling and Michele Williams.  The Place Beyond the Pines is just as thoughtful and more accessible than Blue Valentine. Pines is an ambitious and mostly successful film.

DVD of the Week: The Ides of March

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It being Super Tuesday and all, let’s go with a film about electoral politics, The Ides of March.  George Clooney directed, co-wrote and stars in this contemporary political drama. It’s an engrossing story about ambition, loyalty and betrayal.  The story revolves around an up-and-coming political consultant (Ryan Gosling).  He is working under a veteran campaign manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in a Democratic Presidential primary.  He is wooed by the campaign manager (Paul Giamatti) for the opposing candidate, and the intrigue begins.

Two performances stand out.  Philip Seymour Hoffman perfectly captures the old school politico, now jaded, but able to access the idealism that first drove him into politics.  Ryan Gosling can soar in any kind of role.  Here he is smart, but is he smart enough?  He is well-intentioned, but can it overcome his ambition? Gosling keeps us on the edge of our seats as he navigates a snake pit of betrayals.

The rest of the cast is good, too:  Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood as an ambitious intern and Marisa Tomei as a hard-nosed reporter.

It’s a movie that MOSTLY gets the politics right.  The fundamental truth of the movie is that an utterly cynical veteran politico can still fall in love with candidate, as Hoffman’s campaign manager does with Clooney’s candidate.

In another dead on accurate touch, Hoffman and Gosling need a room to privately pass on some bad news to Clooney.  Instead of finding a cramped office, the three men sit on folding chairs knee-to-knee in a room that could accommodate 200.  That stuff really happens.

Unfortunately, Ides gets some things wrong.  Would never happen:  A veteran strategist like Hoffman would never be surprised by the possibility of “mischief voting” in an open primary.  Real life campaign consultants would never discuss policy positions with a candidate in a room full of thirty 20-somethings, all itching to leak what they know.   And no veteran politico worth his salt would tell a reporter about a deal that is not done.

Nonetheless, it’s a movie that I recommend.

DVD of the Week: Drive

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Drive is a movie that you haven’t seen before – a stylishly violent noir tale unfolding on a brilliantly filmed canvas.

Ryan Gosling stars as a stunt driver by day, criminal getaway driver by night.  He hardly talks and doesn’t emote.  Indeed, his character is listed in the credits as “Driver” and sometimes referred to in the dialogue as “The Kid”.  He is motivated only by his pursuit of adrenaline rushes and the opportunity to do something good for a vulnerable mom (Carey Mulligan).  Indeed, Gosling is superb.

But the real star of Drive is its Danish writer-director, Nicolas Winding Refn.  The film has a noir plot but Refn eschews the shadowy black and white of traditional noir for especially vivid scenes of Los Angeles.  For example, early in the film, Gosling enters a convenience store and the screen is filled with the garish colors of junk food packaging.  It’s one of the most artfully lit and photographed scenes in the last year.

Drive abounds in nice touches. While being hunted by the cops, Gosling’s driver is listening to both the police scanner and a radio broadcast of the Lakers game; unexpectedly, it turns out that there is an essential reason that he’s listening to the Lakers.

This movie contains some extreme violence – violence that is intentionally extreme for its effect.

The cast is excellent, with especially memorable turns by Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Oscar Isaac.

(I admired Refn’s 2008 Bronson, the story of a Britain’s “most dangerous convict” who parlayed a seven-year sentence into 34 years (30 of them in solitary) by repeatedly taking hostages and beating up the SWAT teams that rescue them.   Roger Ebert called Bronson “92 minutes of rage”.)

Drive has been nominated for the Sound Editing Oscar (but is up against some tough competition).

2011 in Movies: breakthroughs

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Ryan Gosling in Nicholas Winding Refn's DRIVE

One of the most rewarding aspects of watching movies is seeing the emergence of new talent.  Here are some pleasant surprises from the past year.

1.  Denis Villenueve:  Because Incendies is anything but stagey, you can’t tell that this little known French-Canadian director adapted the screenplay from a play. In fact, he created the most gripping film of the year.

2.  Jessica Chastain:  She’s on everybody’s “breakthrough” list for a damn good reason. First, she delivered a fine performance as an enabling 1950s mom in the most coherent part of The Tree of Life.  She followed that with a riveting performance as a 1960s Mossad agent (the younger version of Helen Mirren’s character) in the thriller The Debt.  In Take Shelter, she plays a well-grounded housewife who must deal with a mentally disintegrating husband.  She won critical praise for the trashy but aspiring housewife in a film I haven’t seen – The Help.  She’s a tough cop in The Texas Killing Fields.  And then she’s in Ralph Fiennes’ adaptation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.

Six movies in six months – that’s quite a way to start a career. And she’s at the top of her game in all of them, playing soft and tough, brittle and sexy, action and romance.

3.  Nicholas Winding Refn:  With apologies to Ryan Gosling, Refn is the real star of the vivid and compelling Drive.  He has a great eye and a great sense of pacing, and could produce a masterpiece with the right material.

4.  Michel Hazanavicius:  He came out of nowhere to strike gold with The Artist.  Who would think to make a silent film today?  Everyone will want to see what he can come up with next.

5.  Shailene Woodley:  Her performance is absolutely essential to the success of The Descendants.  It’s not just that she perfectly plays a bratty teenager, but that we can see that some of her brattiness is hormonal and some of it is entirely voluntary and manipulative.  Woodley had to convincingly play a character who is at times self-centered and shallow, but who can rally and reach within herself to serve as the family glue and support her dad and little sister.

6.  Ben Ripley:   The key to Source Code is a breakthrough screenplay by Ben Ripley.  In a year with at least some smart action films, Ripley’s is the smartest.  He came up with the scifi premise that supersoldier Jake Gyllenhaal can inhabit the brain of a terrorism victim for the same 8 minutes – over and over again.  Each time, he has 8 minutes to seek more clues. Can he build the clues into a solution and prevent the terrorist atrocity?  Ripley had us on the edge of our seats.

7.  Ryan Gosling:  He has already established himself as one of our best actors (Half Nelson, All Good Things, Blue Valentine), so why is he on this list?  Because this year he has broken out of quirky roles in indies and has carried more mainstream films.  He proved that he can play an action star (Drive) and also be the funniest guy in a Steve Carell comedy (Stupid Crazy Love).  And he proved that he can carry a George Clooney movie as the male lead holding his own with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti (The Ides of March).  He could be looking at a Clooney/Hanks/Nicholson career.