From what I
have read, Gosling regretted the face tattoo he got, saying it looked stupid,
but director made him keep it for the film since the films central theme is
about consequences. So then we have the worlds most attractive man tattooed up as
a stunt motorcyclist named Luke, whose life takes an unexpected turn when he
discovers that he has a son. He is thrust into a downwards spiral, engaging in
a life of crime. Here he crosses paths with an honest cop, Avery Cross, played
by Bradley Cooper and they both affect each other lives in different ways.
The
introduction for Luke, Goslings character, is one of the greatest introductions
in recent memory. The first shot of the film is an over 3-minute long tracking
shot, which without even showing us anything but Goslings abs for a brief
moment and then his back for two minutes, we get a complete sense of who this
character is. It is a prominent example of how to use a tracking shot and how
to introduce a character.
Both
Gosling and Cooper deliver very stellar performances. While Gosling´s
performance seemed a bit too similar to his performance in Drive at first, he quickly deteriorated from that approach as his
character developed. Cooper is better then ever here, even more so then he was
in Silver Linings Playbook, as the
very honest rookie cop, with a lot on his mind as he is met with increasingly
more corruption in his workplace, something he hopes to get rid off.
The film
also stars a wide array of great actors in the supporting roles, with the
standout being Ben Mendelsohn, the Australian actor, once again playing a crook
of sorts, but despite always playing shady characters, he always plays them
very differently, but he is always fun to watch and a very underrated actor.
The film is
expertly penned, structured almost like a book, giving us excellent
characterizations and development throughout the film. It manages to cram a
surprisingly large amount of story and character into the film, without feeling
overstuffed or messy.
The opening
shot mentioned earlier is a great one, but it is not the only piece of amazing
cinematography in this film. The cinematography manages to be both in your face
artful, yet cleverly subtle in a way that it manages to be both beautiful, yet
through subtlety tell us about the characters.
There is a car/motorcycle chase, which is briefly seen in the trailer, puts all other car
chases to shame. Using a very clever technique it puts you literally in the
middle of the action of the chase, even more so then the chases in Drive, which were also very creative, in
a very uniquely creative way that is, for me at least, something that has never
been done quite in this way before.
The choice
of music is odd, yet ultimately fitting, creating a dark tone that contrasts
the fairly light cinematography, which together creates a consistent tone that
works very well with the themes of the film.
It is a
very fresh film, perfect if you are looking for something different. The film
takes you through an engaging story with amazing characters and amazing acting,
to places you don´t expect it to, without ever loosing your interest. It may
not perfect, but what film is, but it is so well done that I will as far as to
say that it may be one of the greatest films I have seen in the last 2 or 3
years.
5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment