"All Good Things" is based on the infamous life and media circus around Robert Durst, an New York heir to billions, infamous for the string of murders and disappearances that have revolved around him for three decades. For those familiar with his story, the film will reacquaint you and surprise you. For those who have never heard of him, it will be even more shocking. The characters' names in the film are altered slightly, but the story is nonetheless the same. Ryan Gosling plays David Marks, who meets Katie McCarthy (Kirsten Dunst) in 1971; Katie comes from a middle-class background, while David comes from billions of dollars of old New England money. The two fall madly in love and are married soon after, but their relationship deteriorates over the next decade. David becomes abusive toward Katie, and they eventually end up living in separate houses as Katie studies at medical school while David works in New York City under his dad's company. In 1982, Katie vanishes without a trace. Fast-forward to 2000, and David is living under the identity of a woman in Texas; the deaths of friend/publisher Deborah Lehrman and the gruesome murder of elderly Malvern Bump reignite interest in Katie's 18-year-old disappearance. They all have one thing in common: David Marks.
The entire film, penned by Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling, plays out like a feature-length segment of "Unsolved Mysteries", except with award-worthy performances and stellar storytelling. I personally see this as a positive thing; I am, after all, a big fan of true crime tales and unsolved murders. The circumstances of the characters and the entire realm of which this takes place makes for not only a fascinating biographical narrative; but a love story, murder mystery, and a period piece. The cross-decade stretch the film makes also gives the audience a sense of relevance, since this man's history of crime (or innocence?) spreads across time.
On top of the weird fascinating aspects of this story, it was superbly acted, which makes it even more of a treat. Ryan Gosling takes a turn as a semi-sociopathic husband, and he carries the film gracefully (he's played the psycho role before, see "Murder by Numbers"). He plays that balance of sympathetic and downright evil to a tee, even when he's dressed in drag in a masquerade to hide his identity. His blonde wig, trench coat and sunglasses evoke an eerie image very similar to the villain in Brian De Palma's 1980 thriller "Dressed to Kill". Gosling aside, Kirsten Dunst is the real winner here. Her role as the vulnerable, goodhearted wife-turned-victim is played so well that it would catch any of her "Spiderman" fans off guard. Dunst is a capable actress, but she often chooses shallow films that don't exactly showcase that— this surely wasn't one of them. She is the window into David's psychosis, and we see the deterioration of their marriage through her eyes; after she's vanished, her presence is felt like a ghost looming over the rest of the film. This is really Dunst's movie, and she gives what is easily one of the best performances of her career here.
The most disturbing scene in the movie, in my opinion, is one of extreme suggestion involving Katie— on the night of a grand fight between she and David at their lake house, a neighbor is making tea in the middle of the night. The neighbor looks out her window at the Marks' house, and sees all the lights are oddly turned off, except for a single basement window, lit with an eerie fluorescent blue. We, as an audience, can only imagine what happened to Katie in that basement, and it's nothing short of horrifying.
The modern day sequences, much in contrast to the retro '70s/'80s vibe the first act of the film has, are extremely well-done, too, and the court-centered narrative is largely accurate in terms of what actually happened in this case. The entire film, in fact, is surprisingly accurate, which is nice to see for a change; very little artistic liberties or fabrication, if any, is embedded in the script. It's nice to see a true crime film tell it like it is; the truth is often more interesting than dressed-up fiction.
The sad truth here is that, in reality, Robert Durst hardly paid for his crimes; he spent nine months incarcerated for "improper disposal of a corpse" when he dismembered Morris Black (renamed Malvern Bump in the film) after killing him in "self defense" in 2001. Susan Berman's (renamed Deborah Lehrmen in the film) shotgun murder at her California home in 2000 is still unsolved. And Durst's wife, Katie, who vanished in 1982, has never been found— god only knows what happened to her. The mere fact that this man has been able to dodge any punishment for these murders is frustrating, and paints him as quite an evil enigma.
Overall, "All Good Things" is one of the best movies I've seen this year. I'd say that seeing it for Dunst's performance is reason enough, but it's also a treat for true crime buffs and people who are familiar with this decades-long story of secrecy and murder. While it may lack the conventional thrills and spills of fictional psychothrillers, "All Good Things" maintains a chilling, picturesque truthfulness to it, and for that, is a real winner in my book. 9/10.
