Only God Forgives (2013)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

It is difficult to fathom why a star actor like Ryan Gosling would act in a low budget, Thailand based B grade movie like this one...But after watching the movie for a few minutes one gets sucked into the underbelly of a Tourist hub like Bangkok..Special mention to the performance of the lady playing Ryan's mother...Class act..

There is nothing like an oddball Thai noir film with Ryan Gosling. Ryan runs a fight club in Thailand. His older brother Billy kills a prostitute. Billy in turn is killed by the father of the dead girl, assisted by a vigilante cop (Vithaya Pansringarm). Ryan realizes his brother was no saint and doesn't enact revenge and then the over the top drug dealing potty mouthed mom (Kristin Scott Thomas) shows up to makes things worse.The main problem with this film is that Ryan's character was never developed, or developed to the point you cared about him. It was a bad role. The drug dealing, while discussed wasn't really part of the plot other than background material. The background of Billy, was told to us as was many plot points that didn't mesh well into an enjoyable tale. Kristin Scott Thomas' character carried the film for what it was worth.This film is clearly not for everyone and I give three stars for its uniqueness and potential, not the entertainment value.Parental Guide: F-bomb, N-word. No nudity (unless you count art). No sex. Adult themes.

In Thailand, a drug trafficker's icy mother sends him on a mission to avenge his older brother death.Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives feels more like his Valhalla Rising (2009) rather than the more conventional and mainstream Drive (2011). The music is mesmerising, stirring the uneasiness of The Shinning (1980). It's atmospheric, stylish, quiet and yet ultra-violent, with the beats of an opera. It echoes elements of Diva (1981), Collateral (2004), Subway (1985) and David Lynch's dream-like quality to name a few. Ryan Gosling plays Julian Thompson, an American criminal who lives in Bangkok. Gosling smolders (with limited dialogue which appears to have become his trademark staple) Julian speaks less than 20 lines throughout the film. Kristin Scott Thomas shines as Crystal Thompson, Julian's mother, a merciless and terrifying mafia godmother, probably her most memorable role. The star though is Vithaya Pansringarm as the imposing Lt. Chang/The Angel of Vengeance.Refn remains visually stylish thoughout with natural location shoot, he adds enough subtle narrative smarts and horrifying underworld characters to ground its beautifully filmed depravity.The film's characters are non-people; reminiscent of Revolver (2005) the things they say to each other are non-conversations, the events of neon-drenched nightmare are like some piece of French cinema which purposely plays differently to mainstream good taste. It's slow, edgy and gripping as the extreme violence basic plot plays out.Only God Forgives has some quirky casting and interesting visuals on the background of the seediest sides of Bangkok. If you like artsy, its dedicated to director Alejandro Jodorowsky which should give you an idea what to expect then this is for you.

If you are a sincere fan of slow, but extremely slow movies, play this movie on x2 speed and you may somehow hold on to the end. I have to praise myself, I fell asleep only after more than an hour. I usually evaluate the general impression that movie has left on me, but sometimes, as in this case, this is impossible because my impressions are very divided. It's done in similar style as Neon Demon, but in my opinion it's a bit better. Movie is visually fascinating and deserves 9/10, but the story and pace are terribly boring and I hardly made myself watch it to the end, which is on my scale 2/10. As it's better than Neon Demon, which I rated 3/10, I will draw the average from 2 and 9, and rate it5,5/10