moonspinner55
David Lynchian tale of a single mom and her kids in a dilapidated, dead-end town facing more tragedy: she's three months behind on the house payments and her home has been marked for demolition; meanwhile, her eldest son, who strips abandoned buildings of their copper wire, is told about an evil spell cast over the local reservoir, which was once a town before it was flooded with lake water by the city. Co-writer-producer-director Ryan Gosling shows a real gift here for capturing lost hopes in visual terms; he and his cinematographer, Benoît Debie, get some provocative images on film of silhouettes against purple skies at dusk, flickering TV lights in an attic room or purple lights in a seedy nightclub (the pair are big on purple). Unfortunately, the story elements are inscrutable when they're not derivative, and the characters never emerge. *1/2 from ****
phd_travel
Despite being a huge fan of the terrific actresses Ronan and Hendricks I just didn't like the movie. It's not as weird as David Lynch - there actually is a story and it moves along to a satisfying conclusion but I just didn't get the point of all of it. The ugly images and pseudo violence just seem meaningless. The ugly acts aren't funny and don't advance the plot like in a Tarantino film. Ryan Gosling wrote and directed this movie. He directs things fairly effectively but it's the story that is weak. He even got his girlfriend Eva Mendes to appear in this and she is kind of wasted. In fact the high caliber international cast is all wasted. Poor Detroit seems to be the setting of many a horror/thriller movie now.Even if you are a fan of the stars, don't bother watching this one. I though it was a waste of time.
lrtb-34348
Let's start by saying : I love this kind of films.OK, now that I say it, let's talk about the movie :it is the debut of Gosling as a director, and even when you can see clearly influences in his work, I will like to say that it have a character of it's own. I can only compare it with a mix between Tim Burton and David Lynch, two dark-film directors, but everyone with it's own style. The movie is an urban phantasmagorical fairy tale, a sad poetry of the suburbs and low life.I can't see something not perfect with this movie, it have a everything : perfect acting, perfect OST, perfect photography, deep characters. Only thing I did like to know more about the background of the characters, a bit more about their story, because I felt a lot of empathy with every one of them (even the twisted ones).I really want to see more Gosling's works, he have lot of potential as a director.(warning : this movie is not for everyone.)8,5/10
tjga
I search for really weird off-beat movies. But this was without a doubt the worst movie I have ever seen and I've seen a few. I watched it all the way through hoping that it would twist and make the pain go away. But it never did. Black and dark and painful to the end.It sucked ass from beginning to end. Ryan, give it up. I write this to save anyone else the anguish of trying to watch it, thinking they may have found a gem. pure garbage. I feel sorry for the actors who got suckered in to doing it. It certainly will not help their careers. Please no more of these horrible movies. I can't believe netflix would even have it.. Is's like a bad B movie bootleg with no hope whatsoever.
AD
