Ryan Gosling

I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, who loves Ryan Gosling but I wasn’t quite on board with the sentiment. I have felt ambivalent about him for a long time, love his acting but feel like he seems standoffish (since I can get such a read on people from their interviews in magazines that they are doing as part of their job). Then I saw Crazy Stupid Love (out on DVD very shortly, if you haven’t already, see it) and I loved how funny he was, playing a total male peacock while still managing to make you like him and think he was funny. This month he can be seen in two movies, Drive and Ides of March. If I wasn’t won over before, those movies would certainly do the trick.

Drive has the feeling of a really great piece of art, you aren’t always entirely sure what you are seeing but you know it’s powerful and that you want to know more about it. I was totally unprepared for how violent it is and how real the violence feels so if that is not something you deal well with, avoid this movie (I found myself covering my eyes more than once). The movie manages to convey an intense story without much dialogue, through music and the type of acting that doesn’t require words. Without the quality of acting and the way the movie was shot it would be a typical action film but it definitely rises above standard fare. Albert Brooks is perfect and shocking as a gangster who doesn’t let his feelings interfere with his business.

Ides of March is also filled with great actors (Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachael Wood) but isn’t a great movie. The story is good, the acting is good, I enjoyed the music but overall it felt like it was missing something to move it from good to great. It feels like a typical political thriller that was shot with a bit more finesse. I enjoyed the movie but think you would be just as happy to wait for it on DVD.

If a movie triple feature isn’t enough Ryan Gosling for you, the internet has plenty of entertainment for you. F Yeah Ryan Gosling, features photos of Ryan Gosling with ridiculous pick up lines over them. Ryan Gosling even reads a few of them out loud in an MTV interview. Feminist Ryan Gosling takes the idea and changes it to be photos of him talking about feminist theory. If you still don’t understand how awesome he is, check out this video of him breaking up a fight on the streets of New York (then talks about being embarrassed about it here).