When I first heard that Ryan Gosling pulls Kirsten Dunst out of a room by her hair, I was intrigued. It is nothing against Kirsten- it just sounded unusual. Then with a little investigating, I found out that the movie was All Good Things, which is based on the real-life mystery of a missing woman. It sounded like it might be a good, dark mystery/thriller/drama type of movie. So I went to the local Blockbuster, rented it on Blu-ray and was quite pleased with my choice.
David Marks (Ryan Gosling) is the oldest son of wealthy proprietor Sanford Marks (Frank Langella), who owns real estate in the New York area, and has some shifty business relations. Sanford wants David to eventually take over the family business, but David isn't interested. At his father's request, David goes to check on an apartment complex and that is where he meets Katie McCarthy (Kirsten Dunst).
They marry, move to Vermont, and open an all-natural supply store. On a visit to the shop, Sanford guilt-trips David into moving back to the city and working for him, claiming that Katie should be offered a better sort of life. David agrees to his father's suggestion, but then his behavior starts to change. Katie hears him talking furiously to himself. He starts to have violent outbursts. She is concerned and discovers that when David was a child, he saw his mother jump to her death.
When Katie gets pregnant, David forces her to have an abortion. On the way to the clinic, David abandons her to take care of some business at his father's request. After this, Katie and David start to drift apart. She moves into their country house and he stays in the city. She goes to medical school and he moves up the corporate ladder. Katie eventually asks for a divorce, but David won't let that happen- he still loves her. So she must find a way to convince her husband to give her a divorce. She is aware that her father-in-law's business practice is not on the up and up and chooses to use that information to blackmail the family into letting her go. It doesn't go as she had planned. Shortly after, Katie goes missing. Then the movie starts to get crazy, but crazy in a good and captivating way.
After watching the film, I couldn't resist the urge to search the internet for more details. There is some speculation about exactly what happened because Katie has never been found. One of the extras on the Blu-ray is interviews with the victim's family and their insight into the events. It is kind of interesting, but it is a shorter synopsis of what happens in the film. The movie is a little slow in the beginning, but once Katie disappears it just becomes a rollercoaster of insanity and dementedness. I was left feeling dumbstruck and astounded even with the speculation aside. It is a little creepy to think that this guy is still out there, living what I suppose is a "normal" life. You've got to watch All Good Things.
