Review - Only God Forgives

On Video On Demand - "Only God Forgives" - This crime thriller starring Ryan Gosling and from the Director of "Drive" is steeped in symbolism and absolutely gorgeous to look at, but painfully excessive in it's ponderously long, brooding cuts and ultimately buried by it's hollow, emotionless characters. Normally, I'm a fan of fewer edits and longer shots, but Director Nicholas Winding Refn's (Drive, Valhalla Rising) heavy-handedness and obvious free-reigned indulgence suffocates the film.  It's a detached experience, with Gosling, along with Thai Actor and co-star Vithaya Pansringarm, asked to play their respective roles as cold as possible.  There's no one to root for here. It's extremely violent (BLOODY), completely void of humor and features a helluva wicked Kristin Scott Thomas (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as a revenge-minded mother.  The entire package is 100% weird- it will either be a big hit or a big miss depending on your mood... it never really lit fire for myself.

Ryan Gosling's "Julian" is a Thai boxing club manager and drug smuggler whose brother (Tom Burke) rapes and murders an underage prostitute. The local police, assisted by Vithaya Pansringarm's Lieutenant "Chang" (representing some kind of Angel of Death type figure) allow the victim's Father to beat the despondent creep to death at the scene of the crime.  Kristen Scott Thomas's icy "Crystal" enters the picture, demanding that Julian exact revenge on those responsible for the killing of her first born son.

By design, Gosling's about as wooden as you'll likely ever see him- Refn obviously loves to have the camera linger on the Actor's face as he stares blankly off into the distance for extended periods of time. Julian is haunted by a past crime and subsequent dream-like visions which may or may not act as premonitions of events to come.  There's a conscious here, but with so little dialogue, expression or redeeming qualities to speak of, I couldn't ever really care about whatever Refn intended for Juian's character to embody or represent.

Thai Actor Vithaya Pansringarm could have/should have received equal billing here as there's plenty of footage featuring the looming, karaoke singing, sword-wielding figure brought in to balance out matters and "restore order" through the slicing and dicing of unsavory sorts.  Look for Pansringarm to land a lead-villain role in a big budgeted affair at some point in the near future- he's capable.

Kristen Scott Thomas may stick in the memory for quite some time- I don't believe audiences have ever seen the Brit-French actress quite like this before. She's an unrepentant, repugnant sort, with most of her dialogue delivered for shock value.  There are more than just hints at an incestuous past between her and her deceased son...  

Thai Actress and Pop Star Yayaying Rhatha Phongam is pretty to look at as Julian's prostitute love interest, but isn't given much to say or do- she's just another hollow ornament in Refn's stylishly visual menagerie. 

Those who have seen a trailer for this film and might be looking forward to an eventual showdown between Julian and Chang will be sorely disappointed- the "fight" scene featured therein is one of the more one-sided affairs in recent memory.  It's a buildup with no payoff scenario that came across as more of a middle finger to those expecting something special or of a kick ass cool kind of nature.  It's a missed opportunity.

As with Refn's previous efforts, expect a handful of extremely graphic scenes of gore, including throat slashings, dismembered limbs, heads being brutally pummeled, impalement and even a sequence where a decidedly unlucky fellow has his eyeballs sliced open.  Perhaps if this particular narrative had given an audience a character to root for, the emotional impact of these scenes would have borne some kind of weight... 

I loved 2011's "Drive"- it was a beautifully filmed, pulsing, electric experience with flawed, but empathetic characters that was driven home by an excellent soundtrack. I'm sure some will get a kick out of the latent messages and hidden meanings behind the symbolic imagery and other onscreen proceedings, but, try as I may, I ultimately couldn't get behind Only God Forgives- it alternates between pretty to look at and wince-inducing gruesome, but it's altogether empty.   It's tied with Man Of Steel as my biggest cinematic disappointment of 2013.  

5.5 out of 10.

FWIW-

Drive - 9.5 out of 10