Gosling: "Drive" and "Lars"

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Beautiful!

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Adorable!

So before I get into the reviews I'd like to take a minute to rant about my love for Ryan Gosling! Being a straight man, it is rare to fall in love with another man, but besides Tom Brady, Ryan Gosling is my ultimate man crush. Channing Tatum looks like a oaf compared to this brilliant actor and incredibly charming man. He's beautiful! But beyond that, he's also a very good actor! It's rare for me to find an actor that I cannot pick a fault in their performances and personalities. He's so charming in all his films that you can't help but fall in love! You never hear of him being an asshole off screen either; he's too much of a sweetheart. Unlike some celebs who go out and get drunk and get into trouble, he stays out of trouble and actually stops it! He broke up a street fight for Christ's sake! Lastly, him and Emma Stone NEED to get married! From the first time he approached her in Crazy, Stupid, Love to their forbidden relationship in Gangster Squad, if their off screen chemistry is even half of what it is on screen then they will have the most perfect relationship of all time, not to mention the worlds most beautiful children. End rant. 

Now what you presumably came here for, a film review, or rather, two! As you should be able to tell from the pictures above, I re-watched Drive and Lars and the Real Girl. As anyone whose seen the films can tell you, these two films show you two opposite sides of Ryan. 

The first, Drive ( available on Netflix streaming), is a crime film about Driver (Gosling) who is a getaway driver for criminals in L.A. "You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own." He also works days at Shannon's (Bryan Cranston) garage. Gosling falls for a neighbor in his apartment complex whose husband is just released from jail. When Driver find Standard (the husband) is in debt for protection money, he promises to help with  job to ensure his family will stay safe. When the job is a set up, Gosling needs to protect his neighbor from the men pursuing him. The film turns violent and the intertwining of the characters brings Nino (Ron Perlman) and Bernie (Albert Brooks) into play. The dark side of Gosling is shown while still preserving his "good guy" characteristics. 

In Drive we see a new side of Ryan. He has very little dialogue and it's a really dark movie. The lack of dialogue adds to the drama of the film. The film score is great! I loved all the music, especially "A Real Hero" with its base line. Everything in this film felt right. I loved it! 3.5 out of 4! 

In Lars and the Real Girl (available on Netflix streaming),  we see the opposite side of Gosling as Lars, an emotionally disturbed man  who lives in the garage of his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and his wife Karin (Emily Mortimer). Lars orders a sex doll and begins to date her, Bianca, as if she is real. Shocking at first, Gus rejects this at first, but over time everyone in towns love for Lars leads to their accommodation of this relationship. Patricia Clarkson shines as the doctor who explains at first Lars' delusion of Bianca and later works with him as a psychiatrist to help him and his family to get through this. Mortimer's role is also excellent! She is, from the beginning  trying to integrate Lars into the family and help him to become "normal." Gosling's shy, reserved and charming portrayal of Lars is amazing! He is awkward and uncomfortable in many social situations and his facial twitches and blinking in these moments are just enough to express the uncomfortability of the moment while not distracting. 

This film is so heart warming and a bit insightful. Set in a small, tight knit community you can feel the small town dynamic and the support of the community coming together to help out and include Lars. The beauty of this film is the way it touches you. You as a viewer begin to feel that Bianca is real the way Lars does. As awkward as it is at first to see people interacting with a doll, it comes to feel natural and you become attached to her and invested in the relationship. The film ends beautifully as well and emphasizes that maybe the end is more of a new beginning. While some may feel too uncomfortable watching this as the scenes are intentionally awkward, I loved this film and I hope others will too as we get to see a great film as well as great performances, especially by Gosling. I also loved this film! 4 out of 4!