All Good Things (2010)

Ryan Gosling turns in another nuanced performance as an unbalanced guy, based on a true story about a rich man and his devoted wife (Kirsten Dunst), who, for part of the story, run a 1970's Vermont health food store for which the movie is named. It's very good, not recommended for first dates, as the honeymoon, like all good things, must come to an end. The characters' names are changed in the movie to David and Katie Marks but everything I've read about this refers to Robert and Kathleen Durst. The Durst family, from Scarsdale, owned and managed a lot of Manhattan real estate, and Frank Langella (I wrote about him in Unknown) is also wonderful playing David Marks' father Sanford.

This is the first non-documentary feature for director Andrew Jarecki and first movie ever for co-writers Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling and it is assured in all ways. Dunst (best known as Mary Jane in the Spider-Man series (2002, 04, 07), she has been acting since she was 7, starting in New York Stories (1989), and my favorites include The Virgin Suicides (1999), Dick (1999), Crazy/Beautiful (2001), The Cat's Meow (2001), and especially Wimbledon (2004) and the title character of Marie Antoinette (2006)) apparently was in rehab for depression before reading this script and eagerly became the first actor to sign on. Though in the theatre I would have guessed Gosling's (I wrote about him in Blue Valentine, where he played another messed up guy in a relationship that starts great and goes downhill) David has borderline personality disorder, according to Wikipedia (don't read this if you don't want spoilers) Robert Durst was diagnosed later with Asperger's Syndrome. The couple's friend, sultry brunette Deborah Lehrman, is played by Lily Rabe, a natural blonde who is the daughter of playwright David Rabe and the late actress Jill Clayburgh; curmudgeonly Philip Baker Hall (some of my faves are three by Paul Thomas Anderson: Hard Eight (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), and Magnolia (1999); as well as The Contender (2000) and In Good Company (2004), among others) comes in late as David's upstairs neighbor Malvern Bump; Kristen Wiig (I wrote about her in Whip It) plays it straight for a change as Lauren; and, in a cameo as Richard Panetierre, John Cullum (Broadway star and Holling Vincoeur, the bar owner with the young wife, on 110 episodes of Northern Exposure (1990-95)) makes an appearance.

Shot in Manhattan and various locations in Connecticut, the movie also has plenty of songs from the 70s and beyond plus original music by Rob Simonsen ((500) Days of Summer, another movie with lots of songs not written by the composer). Here are a few tracks. Lambasted on rottentomatoes by critics who gave it 31%, this has fallen a point in audience's averages to 41% from the 42% ranking it had when we saw it two weeks ago (sorry! I've been too busy with many other commitments to write). But we liked it quite a bit. It came out on DVD March 29, but if it's still playing on a big screen near you, check it out.