This fascinating story of a motorcycle driver reconnecting with an old girlfriend takes a left turn after the first hour. We didn't see it coming at all. Outstanding performances by Ryan Gosling (last blogged in Gangster Squad, he's the stunt cyclist, as he was a stunt car driver in Drive), Eva Mendes (most recently in Holy Motors), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Rose Byrne (X-Men: First Class), Ray Liotta (my favorites include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), Blow (2001), and a cameo in Youth in Revolt), Bruce Greenwood (last in Meek's Cutoff), and especially Emory Cohen (Debra Messing's son Leo in Smash) and Dane DeHaan (new to me, he had a series arc as Jesse in In Treatment in 2010) as high schoolers.
Director Derek Cianfrance (covered in Blue Valentine) keeps us guessing from the script he co-wrote with Ben Coccio (I haven't seen his previous two features) and Darius Marder (his first).
Shot in Schenectady (which is a Mohawk word for "beyond the pine plains" ... this and other trivia can be found here), New York, and environs by Sean Bobbitt (Hysteria), certain parts may induce Motion Picture Motion Sickness but it evens out after a while. I remembered how bad Blue Valentine was on that score so we sat in the back, I looked around the room during the motorcycle chases, and I was fine.
Mike Patton wrote the original music, some of which is listed here, and the album is available on amazon.
Go see this at your neighborhood art house.
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