An ill-fated sequel, the true story of a pioneering astronaut, and an acclaimed drama about a guy who falls for a doll. Ryan Gosling may be one of Hollywood's most bankable A-listers, but he's also appeared in more than a few box-office duds.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00An ill-fated sequel, the true story of a pioneering astronaut, and an acclaimed drama about a
00:05guy who falls for a doll, Ryan Gosling may be one of Hollywood's most bankable A-listers,
00:09but he's also appeared in more than a few box office duds.
00:13On paper, an action thriller starring Ryan Gosling opposite the equally charming Chris
00:17Evans seems like an absolute win.
00:19Yet, The Gray Man wound up being a perplexingly dull exercise in exploring the limits of franchise
00:24filmmaking when stripped of recognizable characters.
00:27The film landed on Netflix in 2022, receiving mixed-to-negative reviews from critics.
00:32Most reviewers found it to be bland, if occasionally punchy, though many noted its cast wasn't
00:37necessarily to blame.
00:38In a two-out-of-four-star review, RogerEbert.com acknowledged the cast's incredible screen
00:42presence and charisma, while NPR conceded that Gosling and Evans were an effective matched
00:47set.
00:48However, the New York Times wrote that the film failed to explore the potential complexities
00:52of Gosling's character.
00:53The outlet went on to add that the staging of some action sequences left one to wonder
00:58whether or not the directors had faith in Gosling's ability to perform his own stunts.
01:03First Man was another idea that sounded excellent on paper, seeing as it reunited Gosling with
01:08La La Land director Damien Chazelle.
01:10The 2018 film, a biopic about the legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong, actually garnered
01:15favorable reviews and even became a serious awards season contender.
01:18Neil, when you learned you were going to command this flight, were you surprised, overjoyed?
01:24I was pleased.
01:25So why is this film still one of Gosling's biggest failures?
01:28Because, for an Oscar-worthy reunion of a bankable Hollywood star and a director quickly
01:33on the rise, First Man surprisingly didn't take off at the box office.
01:38There are plenty of reasons why First Man bombed, key among them that it was released
01:41against hits like Venom and A Star is Born.
01:44In hindsight, it arguably shouldn't have been too shocking that a Marvel movie and
01:47a film starring Lady Gaga would fare better financially than an artsy space-age drama.
01:53First Man ultimately made just $105 million worldwide against a lofty budget of around $70 million.
02:01Gosling has experienced more than his fair share of arguably undeserved box office bombs,
02:06but perhaps none are more pronounced than Blade Runner 2049.
02:09Acclaimed director Ridley Scott, who helmed the first Blade Runner in 1982 and served
02:14as an executive producer on the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel, told Al Arabiya that the length of
02:192049 was largely to blame for its disappointing run.
02:22He told the outlet,
02:23It's slow.
02:24Long.
02:25Too long.
02:26I would have taken out half an hour.
02:27Though length and pacing are sound criticisms, they would better explain any negative reviews
02:31rather than why people chose not to even make the effort to see the film in theaters, despite
02:36critics being largely positive about the film.
02:38For their part, Villeneuve and Warner Bros chalked the poor performance up to the smaller
02:42than expected Blade Runner fanbase.
02:44There were also concerns about the film's vague marketing campaign, which relied on
02:48the admittedly gorgeous visuals and tone that Villeneuve captured rather than what the film
02:52had to offer in terms of story.
02:55What if we told you there was a film out there that starred not just Ryan Gosling, but fellow
02:59Academy Award nominees Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara, and Cate Blanchett?
03:03You might be a bit shocked that a movie with so much star power could essentially go unnoticed
03:08upon its release.
03:09One more name, however, would probably make all this confusion go away rather quickly
03:13– Terrence Malick.
03:14As a director and writer, Malick's work is not the least bit conventional.
03:18His films are almost unanimously experimental and have little concern for placating the
03:23demands of commercial filmmaking.
03:24In other words, for those familiar with Malick's style, it isn't surprising that 2017's
03:29Song to Song was neither critically nor commercially successful.
03:33Like his other films, Malick's somber and exploratory tale of unfaithful artists trying
03:37to find meaning in their lives almost defies critical comparison and was likely never expected
03:42to draw the same crowds as other star-studded dramas.
03:45It's hard, then, to classify this as a true failure, even though it did objectively fail
03:50to make a positive impression among a majority of critics or audiences and made less than
03:55$2 million worldwide.
03:56Given the autonomy Malick had, one would imagine he succeeded in whatever goal he was attempting
04:00to accomplish with Song to Song.
04:03Yet another certified Gosling classic that dramatically underperformed at the box office,
04:08The Nice Guys is one of many 2010's bombs that's actually worth watching.
04:12Blade Runner 2049 and First Man, as great as they are, have a significantly narrower
04:16target audience than his hilarious buddy cop action comedy, which features a strangely
04:21perfect duo in Gosling and co-star Russell Crowe.
04:28Based on the critical reviews they obtained, Metacritic awarded The Nice Guys a generally
04:31favorable score of 70 out of 100, while Rotten Tomatoes posted that 91% of critics gave the
04:37film a positive review.
04:38Both sites also indicate a positive reception from general audiences.
04:42Unfortunately, however, the film made about $71 million worldwide against a budget of
04:47$50 million.
04:49If you ask critics and audiences for their opinion on 2014's Lost River, they'll likely
04:54tell you there's nothing incredibly special about it, except, of course, that it was the
04:58first and last film written and directed by Gosling.
05:02Chances are, you've probably never heard of Lost River, and might have been entirely unaware
05:06that Gosling once stepped behind the camera for an ambitiously surreal film starring a
05:10whole host of recognizable names, including Saoirse Ronan and Matt Smith to name a couple.
05:14In spite of the cast and an audacious story, the film failed to break out of the festival
05:18circuit and made a total of just $615,500.
05:21Still, there's an argument to be made that if Lost River were released today, Gosling's
05:27work might have found a larger audience, especially if you take his current level of fame into
05:31account.
05:32Fans of Gosling's work and drive might be delighted to learn that he collaborated with
05:36director Nicholas Winding Refn on a second film, 2013's Only God Forgives.
05:41They might be slightly less delighted, however, when they see how it was torn to shreds by
05:45critics upon its release, before slinking out of theaters with a shrug-worthy $10.6
05:50million haul.
05:52At the time, the film was largely notable for an apparently unfathomable level of violence.
05:57In its review, Time Out even compared the story to that of a straight-to-DVD B-movie.
06:01It does have its defenders among the critical community, with The Guardian giving the film
06:055 out of 5 stars upon release and publishing a lengthy defense of it in 2021.
06:10Though they're best known for dancing through Los Angeles together in La La Land, Gosling
06:14and Emma Stone had actually already collaborated twice before at that point.
06:18In 2011, the pair played love interests in Crazy Stupid Love, which grossed a very fair
06:23$145 million.
06:25Shortly afterward, however, Stone and Gosling reunited under less favorable circumstances
06:30for the mob thriller Gangster Squad.
06:32Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Gangster Squad was dumped into theaters in January 2013,
06:37and made just over $105 million against a $60 million budget.
06:42It was a budget that seemed to suggest that Warner Bros. expected Fleischer, Gosling,
06:46Stone, and the rest of the top-shelf talent on board to deliver a massive hit.
06:50To make matters worse, Gangster Squad also received largely negative reviews from critics,
06:55who generally felt that it used mind-numbing violence to distract from a flat and uninteresting
07:00script.
07:01Every film on this list has at least a handful of apologists claiming that they aren't
07:05nearly as bad as critics let on.
07:07That's all fine and good, but you know what no other film but All Good Things has going
07:11for it?
07:12It actually helps solve one of the most infamous murder mysteries of the 20th century.
07:16In All Good Things, a critical and commercial flop that debuted in 2010, Gosling plays David
07:21Marks, a would-be Manhattan real estate heir who becomes increasingly erratic, to the point
07:26that he potentially kills three different people.
07:28The film was so clearly based on the real-life case of Robert Durst, the late Manhattan real
07:33estate heir connected to the alleged deaths of three people, that Durst himself called
07:36director Andrew Jarecki and agreed to be interviewed.
07:39To make a very long story short, their interactions led to the production of the HBO docuseries
07:45The Jinx, during which Jarecki and his crew managed to uncover evidence that would eventually
07:49see Durst convicted of killing his best friend, Susan Berman.
07:58Shortly after his trial, Durst died of natural causes.
08:01As beloved as Barbie was, there are probably more than a few cinephiles out there who feel
08:06it was only the second best film about Gosling falling desperately in love with the doll.
08:10The 2007 dramedy Lars and the Real Girl stars Gosling as an awkward and socially isolated
08:15young man who develops a relationship with a lifelike doll he orders from an adult online
08:19shop.
08:24In order to support him through his struggles with the underlying issues of his delusion,
08:28Lars' family and friends pretend the doll is real.
08:31Lars and the Real Girl received largely positive reviews upon its release, with writer Nancy
08:35Oliver even netting an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
08:39However, it's yet another great Gosling film that barely registered at the box office,
08:44grossing less than $11.3 million against a budget of $12 million.
08:50By some standards, the worst film Gosling has ever appeared in there isn't much nice
08:54to say about 2005's Stay.
08:56This bewilderingly convoluted psychological drama follows a psychiatrist who becomes obsessed
09:01with preventing the death of one of his patients.
09:04Gosling plays Henry, an artist and college student involved in a car crash who has a
09:07mysterious connection to the psychiatrist.
09:10Stay debuted to overwhelmingly negative reviews, which mostly criticized its apparently aimless
09:15yet overwrought plotting that bordered on pretentious.
09:18All this being said, it has garnered somewhat of a cult following over the years, particularly
09:22among those who enjoy tense and complicated films like those of David Lynch.
09:26It is also often praised by fans for its cerebral storytelling and passionate performances.
09:31Stay is even regarded by some as one of Gosling's most underrated films to date.
09:35The United States of Leland tells the story of a boy, played by Ryan Gosling, who is imprisoned
09:40in a juvenile detention facility after taking the life of another child.
09:44While inside, he ingratiates himself with a teacher, who in turn recognizes some human
09:48depth within the boy and bends certain rules in order to give him a more comfortable life.
09:52As such dramas go, many tragic and emotionally cathartic events ensue.
09:56However, this 2003 film performed terribly, both critically and commercially.
10:01All Good Things wasn't Ryan Gosling's first chance to play a dramatized version of a real-life
10:06killer.
10:07In 2002, he played high school killer Richard Heywood in the Sandra Bullock crime thriller
10:10Murder by Numbers.
10:11In the film, Gosling's character and another student abduct and kill a woman before attempting
10:16to frame an innocent man for the deed.
10:18Unfortunately, its arguably outsized $50 million budget made financial success a tough task,
10:24while critics mostly dismissed the film.
10:272001's The Believer provided Gosling with one of his earliest and arguably most challenging
10:32starring roles, as well as his first movie that was a critical hit but commercial failure.
10:37Unlike The Nice Guys and Lars and the Real Girl, however, this film is far more difficult
10:41to watch and far darker in terms of its subject matter.
10:44The Believer follows the story of Danny, played by Gosling, a fictionalized version of the
10:48real-life neo-Nazi Dan Burroughs.
10:50In 1965, a New York Times exposé revealed that Burroughs was actually Jewish, despite
10:55having relentlessly and genuinely advocated for violence against Jewish people.
10:59The film made $1.3 million against a budget of $1.5 million, failing to recoup its cost
11:05by a significant margin.