Posted on: April 8, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

A romance placed alongside a murder mystery is an interesting concept; I would have to say that I cannot fathom a film that claims to service both genres in the way that All Good Things does. The film itself is directed by Andrew Jarecki (Catfish, Capturing the Friedmans), and employs a number of heavy-hitting actors (Ryan Gosling, Kirstin Dunst) to tell the story of murder and love present in a New York-based real estate company. Gosling is the son of Frank Langella (Diary of a Mad Housewife, True Identity), a draconian patriarch that wants to ensure that eir family’s possessions stay around for a long time. There is no limit that Sanford (Langella) will reach in this goal, and as a result, it has messed up David (Gosling). Katie (Dunst) has married David without knowing the extent of Sanford’s vile actions.

When a set of murders happen, one has to wonder whether David is just following Sanford’s orders or genuinely likes committing these crimes. One begins to feel sorry for Katie and all that ey has to go through; throughout the film, it seems as if ey is the only innocent person in the whole family.
There are a number of additional features that Magnolia has bundled alongside the featured presentation here – two commentaries explain the real life context in which the film’s events took place, while “Wrinkles in Time: Ryan Ages” is a rare look into the extreme makeup techniques that were used to provide the proper look for Gosling’s advanced years.

“Unraveling the Story” is the final featurette, and is a look into the reasoning why Jarecki took this story to the silver screen. The drama, intrigue, and intensity created in every minute of All Good Things will ensure that this film has a high rotation in viewer’s DVD or Blu-Ray players for years to come.

Rating: 7.4/10

All Good Things (DVD) / 2011 Magnolia / 101 Minutes / http://www.magpictures.com

Leave a Comment