Ryan Gosling's directorial/screenwriting debut doesn't quite work. It is, however, no where near as bad as the initial reactions out of Cannes made it out to be - Gosling does actually show spurts of promise as a director. He wears his influences on his sleeves. The visual filmmaking styles of the likes of Malick and Refn can be seen strongly here. Refn in particular comes of the strongest. It is unfortunate, however, that "Lost River" feels more like "Only God Forgives" then it does "Drive". But like I said, there are some bright moments. The cinematography is fantastic, it has that sort of irresistible style that makes Refn's current work so intoxicating. The score is hypnotic and sets the mood wonderful. But most importantly, "Lost River" isn't complete nonsense. It's pretentious, that much is true, but it does have strong ideas behind it that are worth some thought. Gosling's debut has plenty of positives behind it. The problem with it is that none of these come together to make a story of any description. This is the same problem I had with "Only God Forgives". Scenes just don't add up to anything meaningful. "Lost River" just feels like a collection of moments that Gosling likes, where the idea of interconnecting - or making character who don't feel like cardboard cut outs - them takes the back seat to the fancy camerawork & ambiguous/unconventional storytelling. When it comes down to it, "Lost River" just doesn't come together as well as Gosling would like it. His debut is a miss fire for sure, but I wouldn't completely write him off as a director. If he can build off of what he has done here his next feature has the possibility to be something truly special.