Andrew Jarecki - All Good Things

Andrew Jarecki

And His Excellent New Film

ALL GOOD THINGS

Review Published in The New York Times by Our Very Own
Val Broeksmit

All Good Things

What a great, creepy story. This film falls under 'truth is stranger than fiction' and slips right at the top of that genre.
Best film of the year. Great acting, Excellent Direction.

Andrew Jarecki took a fascinating story and made it into a great film, slipping it just under your skin; where you may find it hard to scratch away after viewing.

All Good Things is an experience, its amazing how this story comes to life through under the umbrella of Andrew Jarecki and his team.

-Like, Michael Seresin, who shot this film; brings the darkness of his previous work, Midnight express, Angel Heart, and probably the darkest of the Harry Potter series, The prisoner of Azkaban, to half light and grit; taking care of each character with gorgeous shading assignments, and thematic framing/lighting for each character; telling a story within a story with the camera alone.

-Like Wynn Thomas, the production designer/Art Director who's team put us right smack into 70's New York. T
here is no question of where you are, and what time period you're in, ever; all details between dirt and sky are early 70's like a Space/Time blizzard came and left everything in Vanderbilt jeans, Hals ton Tops; covering Times Square in sleaze and tight tank tops for fat guys in pastel leisure suits. - This is not the swinging Studio 56, 70's; but the creepy, Times Square Porn theatres, Taxi Driver, Son of Sam, 70's; Dark and strange, where wealthy and powerful New Yorkers, Civil servants and Leisure -suited Larrys' live under their own rules and law.

- Like Marcus Hinchly and Marc Smerling, The writers who took a big twisted story one may have read in Vanity Fair on hot Southampton summer beach; unraveled it into a clear and coherent, cliche' free film, strung together with clever dialogue and cleverly created a non-narrator, narration, through the POV of a court room character brief / testimony.

Frank Langella, who, with one look at an empty chair, early on in the movie, could have stolen the film outright , had it not been for for the careful editing of David Rodenbloom and Shelby Seigel, under Jarecki's umbrella; making sure the film, which is not about his character, Sanford Marks, remains that way, true to the story.

Langella brings weight to every frame he's in; his charisma so apparent, it's not his fault really, that he commands every scene he's in, stealing the viewer's attention from what may be going on in the frame. (see The Ninth Gate or Frost /Nixon) - "it's 39.50 each, that includes a very generous tip" -

The Father and son subtext; combined with the functional madness of real life Durst ({David Marks] played by Ryan Gosling as you've never seen him) is so very strange and un-nerving, it may make you shudder knowing that people like this exist all around you; everywhere you go, all the time.

Kristen Dunst, shows her range in this film. This is not your friendly Spiderman love interest, but a woman pushed emotionally to her frayed ends, where, in one near silent dinner scene, she, with great countenance, shows us how she can move from a woman trying to salvage what she can from her relationship - to great disgust; sadness, fear, and hurt all on one look; all in reaction from a single line slung at her by Gosling's 'Durst'.

We watch as the light Kristen Dunst brings to every role she plays, drains away into the black hole of Durst (Gosling/Marks) until she becomes a paranoid wreck; and rightfully so. Not every actress can do this, we take her for granted as an actress, but in thanks to Jarecki's direction we get to see what a truly great actress can do.

The surprise of Philip Baker Hall in the last third of the film is a treat to watch as he plays a strange homoerotic vet who befriends Gosling who at this point, has succumbed to his madness, but like a functioning alcoholic. Gosling as Durst, (undercover as 'David Marks' ) plays/wears his aberrations as the straight man in a twisted comedy duo.

The other great surprise is Kristen Wiig, know for her hilarity on SNL, she shines here, proving her talent stretches way past just comedy straight into the world of excellent dramatic acting (be careful you may develop a crush on her) "eat your salad"

Jarecki shows us much, in All Good Things; the breakdown of a marriage, the strained relations of a father and son, wealth and its trapping, but more intriguingly, how a seemingly 'normal' man can hide the sociopathic madman inside, carefully, while unbeknownst to us, can live a functional and, again, subjectively 'normal' life. - In a world where there is a law (in Texas of course) where "improper disposal of a body" can get you a fine and/or 6 months in jail. (never mind about how the body lost it's life)

What you may find most terrifying is that these people are all around us, the shop where we shop, eat at the same restaurants wear the same clothes; you've probably met a functional lunatic many times in your life. Although we may hide behind the great illusion and lie to ourselves that they are few and far between; all murders and madmen eventually get caught and put far away from our children, friends and familys', yet Jarecki and his team show that this great conceit of ours, is totally wrong, and nothing but a comfortable lie we tell ourselves as we sign our lease's, leave our tips, show the bouncer our ID's, and run around central park in the evenings to avoid the crowds.

All Good Things, Directed by Andrew Jarecki, shows this to us in a film that you may need to to see a few more times to get all the brilliant subtleties, and top star actin

Andrew Jarecki is a filmmaker and musician. His first feature, Capturing the Friedmans, won 18 major international prizes including the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Festival, and the New York Film Critics Circle award, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

He has made a number of acclaimed short films (including Just a Clown, and Swimming, which were shown at the Sundance Film Festival) and co-wrote and performed the theme song for the television show Felicity on the WB Network. Jarecki is also co-founder of Moviefone.

He is a graduate of Princeton University where he was a theatrical director, and resides in New York City with his family.

Andrew plays drums and backing Vox on Bikini Robot Army's new single, "Joe Strummer's House"