Lost River

Ryan Gosling makes his directorial debut, which is a success from that standpoint. The film looks good, Gosling proves an eye for composition, and it juggles its characters relatively well. The problem is he also wrote the script, which makes for a confusing, self-indulgent watch. Have someone else write Gosling's future directorial projects, please.

(2nd viewing) Some memorable work from the always reliable Debie, and the electronic-influenced soundtrack definitely adds mood and dimension to the proceedings, but all that talent is wasted on a lame, incoherent script that involves a curse, a river and some weird underwater thingamajig that looks like a cross between the Loch Ness monster and Killer Croc. Despite this drawback, the film still left me with a lasting impression.

Exactly the type of nonsensical, self-indulgent actor-turned-first-time-director vanity project (i think?) everyone should have expected/hoped for. At the same time, it feels like such a perfectly-calibrated composite of dude-bro arthouse favorites (Lynch, Korine, Refn, Noe, a little more Lynch for good measure) that it comes close to feeling like a movie actually happening in a seventeen year old boy's head. Which i think is some kind of silly, vaguely admirable accomplishment in and of itself?

I'm not sure which movie Gosling was trying to make. It refers to the aesthetic of a Winding Refn movie, takes the subject matter of a Dardenne brothers movie and tries to incorporate the carnivalesque elements of a Jodorowsky movie; it lacks the style of the first, the empathic nuance of the second and the absurd genius of the third. The end result is a film without a strong identity that is eventually redeemed by a few strong scenes.

Gosling certainly has taste and an eye, but he needs to develop his OWN eye. All things considered, it was an interesting disaster, an empty and too-obvious pastiche of Malick-Lynch-Argento-Refn.

There are enough striking images here to create an everlasting Tumblr page about contemporary auteurs who deal somewhat with the same themes (Malick, Winding Refn, Lynch, Korine) -- from urban nightmares to muddy, abandoned white trash America reality. Everything sounds so dull, though, despite Gosling's catchy narrative. Let's see if he can direct again in the next few years.

It has some good dark atmosphere and imagery but lacks engagement due to its rather incoherent, incomplete story. It's a lot like watching a confusing bad dream. Ryan Gosling is an awful writer. The characters are woefully incomplete and the story is half baked at best. Not really worth watching, even for the few good visual moments and mostly good acting. By the end I felt no emotional impact and had no affinity for the story whatsoever.

In a semi-dystopian American city, a single mother (Christina Hendricks) seeks employment at a mysterious club, while her son (Iain De Caestecker) grapples with a local crime-lord (Matt Smith). Ryan Gosling writes and directs, pulling off the latter fairly well (especially in the club scenes) and the former not well at all, his world-building being inconsistent and his characters being one-dimensional. The actors do what they can, and visually it's stunning, but it doesn't add up to anything.

Its atmosphere is impeccable, hauntingly designed in sound and image. Thematically, it fails to really connect, its comments on poverty and (particularly female) disenfranchisement getting lost behind beautifully rich, film-grainy colours and a story more about vibes than content. Visually but not intellectually arresting.

Using your actor cred to make an incomprehensible passion project with heavy Korine and Noe inspiration is the move for sure. Gosling could become the most hated (and therefore best) auteur in Hollywood if he kept up the bullshit like this. Benoit Debie confirms that he's the greatest living cinematographer - every shot, no matter how irrelevant thematically, is flooded with emotion from his astounding detail to color composition.

The dodgy looking club, straight from From Dusk Till Dawn, isn't your usual pole-topia. It has ladies of the night, such as Cat (Eva Mendes), performing as real scream-queens. But no worries, the tons of blood involved are as human as Carrie's bucket challenge. https://cinemuckblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/lost-river-2015/

It has some incredibly beautiful scenes and moods. I really loved the dinosaur park beneath the lake and the way the town is slowly torn apart, worn and abandoned, long grass and dead windows everywhere. What I didn't love is the plot. It's just not quite enough to hold things together and with the scenes with their visuals holding it all together, it made me feel like the movie was trying too much to be that artistic, crazy thing that people will be in awe of. Pretentious a bit, I guess?

You gotta be kidding, but then Detroit is no joke. If you're thinking of watching this, you need to pre-qualify for suicide watch coverage first. I did like the performance of "Cool Water", which was cool. :)

The world looked nicely different. Lost River was a real, dream like dystopia. But the script did not work at all. I expected some sort of touch ground for symbolic names and the place. I did not find it.

I don't know whether you'll get lost by the excellent visuals or the confusing story but I really enjoyed this film. Yes, it feels like almost a straight rip-off of a David Lynch film... but I love David Lynch, so go for it Ryan Gosling. Not too bad for him doing the directing and writing...

Lost River was one of my most anticipated films of 2015 but I have to admit that it's a complete catastrophy. Ryan Gosling's directorial debut certainly showcases visual flair and it's clear to see where he has taken inspiration from. I was engrossed by all of the performances, the cinematography is stunning and the soundtrack is great. But content wise this makes absolutely no sense. I'm confident that Ryan Gosling still has a lot to offer as a Director. But Lost River is an unarguable mess.

Gosling the director rips Nicholas Winding Refn off wholesale. He steals more than a little bit from Harmony Korine, too. But what he's created here by cribbing those styles is something genuine and original--a mournful, magic realist depiction of what's become of modern Detroit. It's a sad, discombobulating, striking film that occasionally wanders out of sight up its own ass, but works--for the most part--as a mood piece about loss and desperation.

Gosling may some day be a good director, but there is little hope for him as a writer, I'm afraid.

Best thing to be said about this is that it looks great. (It's clear where Gosling got his inspiration from; Lynch, Malick, Refn among others). So stylistically Gosling still holds some promise as a director. But please let someone else write those. Because the plot and characters are very thin. Which would also still be forgivable if Gosling had the ability of the directors he mimics to intuitive get across some deeper interesting ideas and themes.

Die Rezensionen zu Ryan Goslings Debüt Lost River waren so durch und durch ätzend und hasserfüllt, dass ich ein narzistisches Kabinett-Stück erwartete. Die gute Neuigkeit: Lost River ist weit davon entfernt, schrecklich zu sein, denn dafür gibt es zu viele Ideen und visuelle Kompositionen. Die schlechte Neuigkeit ist die, dass Ryan Gosling seine Ideen aber nicht durch seine Regie zu ordnen vermag... mehr auf cinegeek.de

Despite the critical panning this can't fairly be dismissed so easily. Sure it's a big old mess but it's ambitious, never boring, and solidly directed. The biggest weakness is the threadbare script. Stylistically it steals liberally from David Lynch. All the trademarks are there: the 50s inspired soundtrack, sickening colour scheme, grotesque villains and dream-like logic. Here's hoping Gosling doesn't despair over the critical reception as I reckon he could be quite a neat director.

Lost River isn't the most conventional film by any means, but it's well directed. The problems only laid in the script, it feels way too rushed and that really pulls the movie back. Lost River is as if David Lynch and Dario Argento had a baby. The thing with arts like film, or music is that when people start, they take queues from people they look up to and it ends up pretty similar, but I feel like if Gosling really developed his own unique style and got a better script, things would be better.

Not quite Goosekino but, a pretty good directorial debut.

What the bloody hell did I just watch ? This was without doubt original and artistic but that doesn't matter when the story is absolutely shit! If someone ask me to explain what this movie is was about I will have a hard time telling them. I can write a book on how bad this movie was. There was so many plot holes in this movie. It just didn't make any sense. Please mr. Gosling: Please stop making and playing in movies! you only make shit! You should have retired after the notebook!

A little empty, but a visually pleasing film for Gosling's first. Aside from striking visuals, it wanders away from any strong context and maybe that was the purpose. Something along the lines of a moody and cool mess.

Nice to look at but I found it a baffling incoherent mess

The most beautiful, polished turd of a film I've ever come across.