Films of 2013: The Place Beyond The Pines

Review: Gangster Squad

It's hard to call Gangster Squad anything more than a disappointment when after putting an impressive cast with an interesting choice of director (Zombieland's Ruben Fleischer), all you get is a poor man's version of The Untouchables.

Sean Penn is the film's highlight as the over the top villain, but the squad assembled by Josh Brolin's good cop suffer from next to no character development in favour of simply looking good in hats. Ryan Gosling in particular is wasted alongside Emma Stone, with Crazy Stupid Love proving a much better example of the chemistry the pair have.

It might've been okay for Gangster Squad to shun story for shoot-outs if the action itself was a little more memorable but that's far from the case, leaving a film that looks full of forties flash on the surface, but is instantly forgettable.

Review: Half Nelson

Half Nelson's setting can't help but draw comparisons to season 4 of HBO's The Wire, and the eagle-eyed viewer will be able to spot a couple of the kids from the show return in Dan Dunne's classroom - but David Simon's show never worked in just a single sixty minute fix and in being so similar to it, Half Nelson is a little bit of a letdown, drifting by without much resolution, not having the luxury of another 50 episodes to tell its slow-burning story.

However, there's still plenty to like about the film, in particular excellent performances from Ryan Gosling as drug-addled teacher Dunne and Shareeka Epps as Drey, who share a unique Teacher/Student relationship on discovering Dunne's addiction. The film-makers also deserve credit for avoiding falling into the same trap of Gran Torino where having such a great actor in the lead shows up a cast of novices in support, though we know from Blue Valentine, Gosling could step in and sing over the end credits if they wanted to go down that route.

Review: Lars and The Real Girl

The premise might sound like one from the latest gross out comedy, but Lars and The Real Girl avoids the lewd humour to tell a sweet-natured story about one man's relationship with a sex doll he buys off the internet.

This film is definitely more Coen Brothers than Farrelly Brothers, with the wintery setting recalling that of Fargo. But the darkness of the Coen's work is something that is missing from this film, a result of everyone being so nice means there's no real drama of such to drive the story forward, meaning it kind of drifts towards the end - but on the other hand with everyone being so likeable does serve to give the films finale surprisingly enough warmth that could melt the iciest of hearts.

Review: The Ides Of March

The title may reference a date in March, but the everyone involved clearly has a certain date in February on their mind, delivering their best acting performance to woo voters. Gosling and Clooney may be on the poster, but the clash of the titans is the battle between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti to see who can deliver the best performance of a grizzled campaign manager.

The obvious comparison is with Sorkin's The West Wing and thanks to a much a slower pace alongside a much gloomier visual style & theme, The Ides Of March doesn't always feel like it lives up to its esteemed predecessor - a feeling not helped by a conclusion that leaves you wondering if that much actually happened during the film.

The problem isn't that The Ides Of March is bad, its just that it doesn't live up to its potential and the all-star cast it boasts.

Review: Crazy Stupid Love

After the likes of Drive, Blue Valentine, Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson - you could be forgiven for forgetting that Ryan Gosling first big breakthrough was in the classic noughties sob-fest The Notebook.

Crazy Stupid Love is the closest he's got to returning to that territory in that its your by the numbers rom-com with few surprises to be had, but it always remains a step above the rest thanks to a classy ensemble cast and steady flow of funny jokes.

Steve Carell has the lead role as a father going through a mid-lfe crisis of sorts following the break up of his marriage and being taken under the wing of Womanizer Jacob (Gosling). The film gives him ample chance to show how Carell has moved on from the frat-pack comedy like Anchorman that first brought him to fame and he's now settled into the type gentle comedy roles like Bill Murray used to do in the nineties.

Comparisons have been made to Carell's best work, Little Miss Sunshine, but that's probably more due to the fact both films feature precocious kids - Crazy Stupid Love falls short of that standard by being a little too long (the whole babysitter lusting after Cal stuff could've been dropped) and the ending is a bit too cheesy and ties everything up too neatly it threatens to spoil the film a little. Emma Stone also disappears for too long for my liking as well

The likes of Kevin Bacon and Marissa Tomei turn up for cameos, but its good to know somebody's watched Josh Groban appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks as he's perfectly as Emma Stone's douchey boyfriend Richard.

Review: Drive

Ryan Gosling, a scorpion jacket, toothpicks and a pulsating electro soundtrack. This film is cool. Thankfully it avoids falling into any hipster style traps that the likes of Spun fell into by avoiding being all style and no substance.

Drive tells the story of a Hollywood stunt performer (Gosling) moonlighting as a getaway driver, who becomes involved with his neighbour, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and ends up getting tied in with the mob. The tension is high from the opening getaway and rarely lets up throughout thanks to the omnipresent threat of the ultra violent kill scenes that frequently appear out of nowhere. Even the tender scenes between Gosling and Mulligan are loaded with a sexual tension thanks to the lack of dialogue between the two, instead relying on stolen looks and glances to tell the story of the attraction between them.

Gosling is great, and is on a hell of a roll with this, Blue Valentine, Crazy Stupid Love and The Ides of March all out this year. Here he channels his inner James Dean and Steve McQueen and does the strong but silent thing with ease, but it almost a shame to waste someone as good as Gosling with so little lines.

The real star however is the soundtrack, a perfect fit for the sleazy, neon noir world in which the characters inhabit, wisely taking the good bits from the Collateral soundtrack and going easy on the Audioslave (Michael Mann take note next time).

Review: Blue Valentine

When a film starts with a dog dying, you know its not going to be a barrel of laughs - and if you think that sounds grim enough, just wait till the abortion scene.