Writer/director Derek Cianfrance gives three-for-the-price-of-one in this narrative pile up of guilt, delayed honesty and unjust rewards, the sum ranging from exceptional to hard-to-swallow. The first part comes off best, and why not since it’s all but lifted from Ferenc Molnár’s oft-filmed LILIOM, best-known as the source of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s CAROUSEL.* Ryan Gosling the Liliom character (Billy Bigelow in the Americanized musical), a studly ‘carny’ hunk whose life is turned upside down when he unexpectedly finds out he’s a father. What’s a daredevil motorcyclist to do? Why not rob a bank or two with a sleazy pal to give the kid what he needs. And darn if he isn’t killed in a fall after a failed robbery right in the middle of the story . . . just like Liliom. Cianfrance pumps this up with jangly hand-held camera work and fatalistic momentum before switching gears for the second story, suddenly very Sidney Lumet (think PRINCE OF THE CITY/’81) with Bradley Cooper doing Treat Williams in the hard-to-be-honest cop role and a very effective Ray Liotta taking on the Jerry Orbach spot. Lots to accomplish in less than an hour, not only survivor’s guilt after trading shots with Gosling, but then sweating his way in & out of police corruption tropes before coming thru with the ambition, cunning & moxie of a born politician able to thread a ruthless amoral needle as he works his way up the system. Lots of gaps to fill in, but you believe it. That’s more than Cianfrance manages when he jumps a generation ahead to compare & contrast the late Gosling’s fatherless high school senior son Dane DeHaan with his new bestie, none other than Cooper’s troublemaking druggie son. At first, unaware of any connection, this try at the rhymed plotting of a big 19th century novel (happy endings for all!) doesn’t come off. You can only believe it as a sick joke. The ambition is appreciated, especially a circular sentimental coda, but the plot’s like a shoelace that won’t stay tied and the film trips over itself.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Excellent as the friend who leads Gosling into robbing and serious trouble (‘Jigger’ in CAROUSEL), Ben Mendelsohn seems to age in reverse, appearing about ten years younger in the last section than he looks in the first.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Fritz Lang’s 1934 version of Molnár’s LILIOM, made in France on his way from Hitler’s Germany to Hollywood's America, is best of the lot, with Charles Boyer in the Ryan Gosling spot. Henry King’s film of CAROUSEL/’56 needs a remake.. Maybe Gosling sings? (He's got the abs to support his vocals!) https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/liliom-1934.html
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