One of the most acclaimed films of the 2012 Toronto Film Festival, this crime drama from the director of Blue Valentine centres on the intense consequences when a professional motorcycle rider turned bank robber (Ryan Gosling) runs into a rookie police officer (Bradley Cooper). Co-stars Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes.
Luke (Gosling) forsakes his life on the road - as a motorbike stunt performer - to settle down and support his newborn son and former lover, Romina (Mendes). When his new employer (Ben Mendelsohn) discovers Luke’s talents, the pair partner up in a string of spectacular bank robberies. But as Luke crosses paths with Avery Cross (Cooper) - an ambitious rookie cop navigating a local police department ruled by the menacingly corrupt detective Deluca (Liotta) - their violent confrontation spirals into a tense generational feud.
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Ryan Gosling has seduced the Tumblrverse but it seems he has a hold on directors too. The Gos reprises the role of muse for Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance, glowering as the troubled pivot of this father-son epic and doling out a gut-grabbing, moving performance as a staunch motorcycle stunt rider.
Full reviewSwathes of originality outweigh the odd recourse to cliché; and the merit of the storytelling at times matches the film's colossal ambition.
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Carefully observed and consistently compelling, it feels like an instant American classic, if a minor one.
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If, in the end, the film can't quite sustain its epic vision, it does, along the way, achieve the density and momentum of a good novel.
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Gosling gives his most open and engaging performance yet, his sleepy, woozy mannerisms developing into a complex interior world of hurt, resentment and disappointment.
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The movie is intimate in its telling, sweeping in its issues and stumbles only occasionally.
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A somber and striking drama that takes some wrong turns but features a charismatic performance from Ryan Gosling in the leanest and best of its three sections.
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In trying to tell an enormous amount of story it can spread itself too thin and leave some strands feeling unfinished, but when it's at its best, this is beautiful and bold filmmaking.
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