Having enjoyed Ryan Gosling in ‘Only God forgives’ and a being a big fan of Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks I was intrigued by the mysterious and beautiful trailer for ‘Lost River’. Lost River is the directorial debut of A-list actor Ryan Gosling and received its premiere at Cannes. The film was getting mostly 2 star scathing reviews, could it be that bad with a trailer that good? Yes is the answer.
Billie (Christina Hendricks) a singer mother with two children despairs at the desolation around her in the deserted town of Lost River. She is struggling to keep their home running and make ends meet for her young baby and teenage son Bones (Ian De Cracker). They are trapped in a ghost town with no way out. The only other inhabitants are Bully (Matt Smith) a literal bully and his disfigured henchman Face (with a disfigured face). Bully roams the city on a throne/recliner chair attached to his convertible car intimidating anyone who gets in his path, which is pretty much Bones as there’s no one else to harass. Bully thinks he owns the town and tries to stop Bones hunting for scrap metal in the deserted homes to sell. Bones makes friends with Rat (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman living across the street with her mute grandmother played by horror veteran Barbara Steele and her pet rat (also called Rat?).
Whilst Bones is out hustling scrap and avoiding Bully, Billie is given the opportunity of a new job at a strange Cabaret-Burlesque-Grand-Guignol-torture-cabaret in a mysterious building somewhere out of town. Baying crowds of affluent hecklers thrill to see Eva Mendes assassinated in various different ways. Billie watches in horror as the blood flows but she needs the money. She takes the job and as she becomes more desperate, she too performs on stage and is enticed to perform in the weird-basement peep show where dodgy stuff goes down.
All of this sounds great on paper. Gosling has borrowed from many sources, Lynch, Malick, Argento but has very little to say himself. It’s all style and no substance. The pace is non-existent, the dialogue plodding, the conversations are tedious and pointless with no energy. The cinematography and soundtrack are the only things of note. A scene where Hendricks takes a scalpel to her face on stage is devoid of any tension or horror. It has less impact than a similar scene in Hostel Part 3, which is saying something. Another scene where Bully tells how his henchman Face got his nickname should be horrible but it comes off unintentionally funny. It’s not however as bad as one of Hendricks final scenes which really amps up the cringe factor. If you are frightened of interpretative dance look away, it will give you nightmares.
There are some good ideas and beautiful visuals in this murky fairy tale but the talented cast is wasted. Watch the trailer and buy the soundtrack instead.
OVERALL SUMMARY
A beautiful but stagnant urban fairy tale
