Movie Review: ALL GOOD THINGS

photo © 2010 David Shankbone | more info (via: Wylio)All Good Things is making it's way around art-house theaters now, but it's far easier to catch it on Amazon's video-on-demand feature. They occasionally allow you to pay a little extra (usually 6.99) to watch a movie still in theaters. Lately they are doing a promotion to save $5 on a movie if you 'tweet' one of their sales - so I did that, and decided to catch this movie as it isn't playing in my immediate area.

AGT's is the based-on-a-true story of the Marks family, primarily married couple David (Ryan Gosling) and Katie (Kirsten Dunst). Spanning about 30 years from the 1970's to early 2000's, the film gives us a very one-sided view of a partially unsolved missing persons/murder case.

The Marks family owned (maybe still does) much of Times Square - including old buildings that used to be known for prostitution and drug rings. As the clean up of this area began, these building owners, including the Marks family, had to scramble to keep up with the changes. One member of the Marks family, David (the eldest son of mogul Sanford Marks played by Frank Langella) didn't want in on the family business, but wanted to open a health food shop in Vermont calls 'All Good Things.' Pressured though, David eventually joins the family empire. This career path, along with past demons, cause home life to get a bit stressed to say the least, and that's where the movie begins to spiral out of control.

My problem, without giving anything away, is how one-sided this movie is. It was definitely made to make certain people who've been found innocent look guilty. Maybe this side is all true, and in that sense it wouldn't be one-sided as much as it would be accurate, but we don't know. That's problem number two - I feel like this story shouldn't have been told until more information was found. We really don't get a conclusion.

The story is somewhat interesting despite not having a real ending, but I will warn you - it's a heavy film. It's very depressing and dreary. A movie with these themes has to be, but it's really hard to watch. The acting is very good, and it's not a terrible movie by any means. I really just wanted more, and in this case that statement is not a compliment. I would give it a 5 out of 10.

Family Take: This is a very hard R movie, with violence, sex, profanity, and adult themes.

If You Like All Good Things Try: This movie wasn't as good as Zodiac which also didn't really have a solid ending, but was better constructed and a more fascinating crime saga.