As a Ryan Gosling fan, this was a must-watch. I had heard a lot about it. My only regret is not having watched it sooner. The main stars of this film were of course Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendez who played Ryan’s baby momma, and Bradley Cooper who played the part of a cop. The film got interesting about 15 minutes in when Ryan finds out he is the father of a one-year-old. For Ryan, the child was very important, enough for him to change the course of his entire life, in this case, for the worse. He quits his job, picks up a low paying job, and eventually decides this is not enough. When his friend asks him if he would be interested in robbing a bank, he takes him up on the offer. You had the feeling this was not going to end well, since Ryan’s thirst for money could not be quenched fast enough. His partner in crime backs out and Ryan decides to go it alone on his next bank robbery attempt. This is where Bradley Cooper’s character comes in. The confrontation goes bad ending in Ryan’s death. This is a major turning point in the film, setting up act two. This part of the movie focuses on the aftermath of the shooting. Bradley’s character is elevated to hero status for having caught the motorcycle bandit. It delves into the area of police corruption and winds its way into introducing us to the teenage versions of Ryan and Bradleys kids, which is act three. This part of the movie was about the kids finding out who they are and doing their own things. My opinion is this part of the movie was sort of useless. The best part of the movie was the first act. It had promise, but that promise died when Ryan Gosling fell out of the window.
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