Review of All Good Things (2010) by Jenna G — 28 Oct 2011

David Marks: Look at her. I swear to God, I didn't even know that people like her existed. She's perfect. .

"The Perfect Love Story. Until It Became The Perfect Crime.".

I expected a lot from All Good Things, maybe a little too much. The story was intriguing and the film has Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst in it. The film is well acted by them, but their performances aren't enough to lift this film above watchable. The film is bleak and dark, and it should be, so it did get the mood right. But it was also extremely dull. I never felt suspense or even felt like director Andrew Jarecki wanted the viewer to feel anything towards the story. .

The story is based on a true story. David is the son of a rich and successful man, but his life has been nothing great. He watched his mother jump to her death when he was seven years old and, as one would expect, it messed him up pretty severely. He meets Katie when he goes over to look at a sink leak in her apartment and they hit it off, and end up getting married. Neither of the couples families are ecstatic about the marriage, especially David's father. Then from there the plot goes from a loving couple to marital problems quickly. It never feels like the couple loved each other, even as David says how perfect Katie is.

I wouldn't go as far as to say the movie isn't well made because it is beautifully shot and the music is great. It is just that the overall feelings one should get from watching a movie about this subject is completely missing. After watching it, I was left feeling empty about this story. It wasn't chilling, but I could tell where it should have been. I never got a real feeling that Jarecki even cared about this subject. It seemed that he was just making it to kill some time or something.

It isn't totally worthless because nothing ever is, when it has either Gosling or Dunst. It is just disappointing because it never reaches a point where it feels like it should have gone.