FilmSnobReviews

Title: Lost River
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Lost River
Starring: Christina Hendricks, Ian De Caestecker, Ben Mendelsohn
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

What It Is: After every other house in the neighborhood has either been taken by the bank or it’s residents have moved out Billy (Hendricks) and her sons are the only ones left. Her eldest boy Bones (De Caestecker) seems discontented with life in the lost river he lives in. He tries to help his mother by stealing all the copper piping out of the abandoned houses. That is until Bully comes in and claims the turf (and all it’s copper) for himself. Meanwhile the bank is closing in on them, it is then that the new bank manager Dave (Mendelsohn) offers Billy an opportunity to work a job, a mysterious one at that. Lastly the families neighbor Rat (Saoirse Ronan) informs Bones of the curse on the town, and it’s connection to the towns current recession.

What We Think: This film is utter narrative confusion. I don’t know quite what director Gosling was doing but it seemed like a lot of really awesome concepts inexplicably blended into a messy cluster of ridiculousness. Many of the cast are believable in their roles , but I don’t think even they knew what their character motivations were. Hendricks is the only real chink in the armor as far as the acting is concerned, how much of her naivety is the way the characters written and how much is simply her hamming it up.

Our Grade: D+, Man Gosling really wanted to draw from Nicholas Winding Refn, and Derek Cianfrance and that’s pretty much what he did. From the Refn like cinematography, and the Cianfrance tone we get a hodgypodgy mess. One thing about the film that saves this is the awesome soundtrack. Wife Eva Mendes gets a role here, and with it she does something interesting and unique from her other roles. Perhaps in feature number two Gosling will figure out his style, and have a less cluttered mess to work with. All in all this could have been a great film, but it just isn’t.

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