Review of All Good Things (2010) by Daniel A — 14 Mar 2011

In All Good Things Kirsten Dunst may well have provided the most underrated performance of the year.

Considering the critical beating it took, it's fair to say my expectations for All Good Things were pretty low. However I found myself switched on and totally engaged by a story overflowing with drama and intrigue. On top of this a fantastic score and a couple of great performances ensured my attention was held to the very end of this relationship drama meets crime thriller.

Based on true events the film explores the circumstances of one of New York's most renowned missing person cases. Following David and Katie Marks, we get to witness their turbulent marriage which is rocked time and again by revelations of David's questionable family business and the psychological scars left behind by the death of his mother. The culmination of these things is Katie's disappearance, which garnered huge media attention, especially when the case was reopened some twenty years after Katie first went missing.

Though it falls into overly dramatic territory at times, Oscar-nominated documentary maker Andrew Jarecki has done a fair job of directing his first major feature. Sustaining a level of tension throughout the film, he presents the apparent facts of the case in a satisfactory manner, even if we don't know exactly what went on in the lead up to Katie's disappearance. That said his touch is a little clumsy at times, preventing the film from ever fully reaching its potential as either a great thriller or drama. However a very fine performance from Kirsten Dunst goes a way in covering this shortcoming.

Dunst delivers what is perhaps the best performance of her career. She displays great emotional depth along with a convincing depiction of desperate drug abuse mixed with heavy depression. One wonders whether she drew upon any of her own experiences considering this was the first role she took following a spell in rehab for her own depression. Whatever her inspiration it certainly worked because in a better film this performance would be garnering serious Oscar buzz.

Also putting in a good showing are Ryan Gosling as husband David, who slightly misses the mark in comparison to his usual brilliance but in no way shames himself here, also Frank Langella as the Marks patriarch, and Philip Baker Hall who appears towards the end of the film, are nice additions to the highly watchable cast.

As such All Good Things is a better film than most critics would have you believe, and a great example of Dunst's regularly overlooked talent.