Turns out we're not the only ones who are Ryan Gosling obsessed, even James Franco (another James Dean/Steve McQueen type character) has expressed his unyielding love for the Canadian actor.
In a self-penned article for The Huffington Post, entitled Burning for Gosling (bit extreme maybe?), Franco let loose on his absolute adoration for The Place Beyond the Pines star. So taken with Gosling's performance in the opening part of the movie, Franco says he'd like to make love to it: "I loved the whole film and was engaged every moment of the way. But what I want to talk about is the first section, the Gosling section; I want to make love to this section." Read an excerpt from the article below and get a measure of just how decent a writer Franco is. I for one would like to read more of his stuff.
He continued:
"The first image we see is Gos's toned six-pack, framed tight so that his head is cut off in order to focus our attention on the full spread of idiosyncratic tattoos and the impressive opening and closing of a butterfly knife, a skill Gosling mastered -- he is the king of eccentric character behavior -- as the character anxiously paces; in the same take, the character (we later learn his name is Luke) sticks the knife overhand into the wall and walks out the door shirtless; we still haven't seen his face but we know it's the Gos: the hair, the head, the strut; as we follow him through active carnival grounds the Dardenne behind-the-head shot is kept active by the developing activity of Luke: first he puts on his signature black Metallica shirt -- pay close attention to all of Gosling's clothes in whatever he does, he is a master at evoking character through dress: The Drive Scorpion jacket; the Blue Valentine two-tone leather, I mean, come on giiiiiiirl; and here a red jacket, more nondescript than usual Gosling but still cool -- and then the cigarette comes out, but we only know this from the smoke that rolls back over his shoulders; as he winds though the dinging rides and flashing booths he is crowned by the chintzy glamour of the multicolored lights, and this is just so right, because this is what the character is: the smoking, brooding carnival king who will ride his motorcycle like no other into the burning twilight of legend; but the shot doesn't stop, he enters a buzzing tent just as he is announced by the ponytailed MC; he mounts his bike next to two other riders; the camera moves back and forth across his badass face, the first time we see it; he has a cross tattooed below his left eye and some erratic squiggly writing below his neck -- still no cut -- and then the three riders enter a porous metal sphere, and they're off; is it Gosling in there riding loops with the other two? Is this possible? There is no way that the filmmakers would risk their star in such a way, but it was all so seamless! The character is already a legend, already fused with his bike and cemented in the pantheon of mythic motorcycle rebels.
The rest of the film is great, but the following two sections can't hope to burn with the same intensity of the Gosling section, they're not designed that way. It's not the actors' faults, it's just that Gosling was cast as the shooting star, and he sucked up all the oxygen. I could watch that first section over and over and over and over. Because it portrays a character who is beautiful because he has a ticking clock around his neck, he's every James Dean-style kid, every burning hot rock star, Lenny Bruce mother, who speaks with his motorcycle and his style: the intelligence of style and behavior. A behavioral and sartorial genius.
Burn hard baby."
To read the rest of the article click here.
I think Franco's hit the nail on the head here, so much so, it's funny that I'd penned a similar enough piece earlier today which you can read right here. Franco and I, we're just like one and the same really.