42
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 69Film.comJordan HoffmanFilm.comJordan HoffmanRyan Gosling wanted to make an art film and, despite some dull patches, pretty much succeeded.
- 60CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleThis is the kind of oddball midnight movie that could easily gain a cult following and there are delights to be had in the midst.
- 58HitfixDrew McWeenyHitfixDrew McWeenyLost River is a beautifully dressed minor effort, a movie in which all the muscle in the world can't transform the thin, thin script into something more.
- 42The PlaylistOliver LytteltonThe PlaylistOliver LytteltonGiven the talent assembled, the emptiness at its center only makes it feel like more of a waste. But it does look great, it does sound great (the score, by "Drive" soundtrack contributor Johnny Jewel, is one of the film's best elements), and can be fitfully interesting.
- 40The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt is colossally indulgent, shapeless, often fantastically and unthinkingly offensive and at all times insufferably conceited. Yet it is frustrating precisely because it sometimes isn't so bad. There is something in there somewhere - striking images and moments, and the crazy energy of a folie de grandeur.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe visuals are undeniably dreamy, but they mostly seem borrowed from other filmmakers’ dreams.
- 40Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichIt goes off the rails early and often. You almost have to give it props for how resolutely batshit it is. Almost.
- 20The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinThe result is cinema you don’t watch so much as absent-mindedly scroll through, wondering when an idea or an image worth clicking on will finally show up.
- 20VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangA risible slab of Detroit gothic that marks an altogether inauspicious writing-directing debut for Ryan Gosling.