Parents' Guide to Lost River

Unfortunately, Lost River is big on concept but short on story. There's no doubt that Gosling is an extraordinary actor, and it's unsurprising that such an acclaimed talent would join other actors turned directors (Ben Affleck, Angelina Jolie, James Franco, Kevin Costner, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, etc.) in an endeavor to take full control of a feature film. But perhaps Gosling would have been better off choosing an established script rather than trying his hand at both writing and directing (though he didn't star in the movie himself, something the majority of actors do to get their early directorial efforts funded).

On the plus side, Gosling shows promise as a student of lyrical directors like Terrence Malick, David Lynch, and former collaborators Derek Cianfrance and Nicolas Winding Refn. But every one of those directors has at one point relied too much on form over function, style over story -- and that's exactly what Gosling does in Lost River. The performers are all talented actors, but the story doesn't make a lot of sense; whatever Gosling is trying to say about poverty, hopelessness, and being stuck in a hometown that takes, takes, takes and offers you nothing in return is buried far below the surface. The film has plenty of interesting ideas, but the jumbled script -- no matter how well acted or interestingly shot -- is still too convoluted to be impressive.