Project Hail Mary hits theaters this weekend, and it promises to be one of Ryan Gosling‘s most popular films.
The Canadian native has come a long way since The Notebook, proving he has the dramatic chops and comedy gifts to be one of the best actors working today.
From the buddy comedy charm of The Nice Guys to the crime thriller intensity of Drive, Gosling is true movie star material.
So, Watch With Us has picked five of the best Gosling movies and ranked them by IMDb score.
Ryan Gosling has come a long way since his days as a Mouseketeer on Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera. As he celebrates his 34th birthday, take a look at how he went from boyishly charming child star to one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men.
5. ‘Barbie’ (2023)
IMDb score: 6.8
The magical land of Barbieworld is benevolently overseen by various kinds of Barbies, like Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie), President Barbie (Issa Rae) and Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), while the Kens are eye-candy who hang out at the beach. When the girl playing with Stereotypical Barbie has an existential crisis out in the real world, it bleeds into her Barbie, who finds the fabric of her blissful existence fraying with things like “cellulite” and “flat feet.” Thus, Barbie travels out to the real world accompanied by her devoted Ken (Gosling) — the latter of whom is exposed to a life-changing concept of “the patriarchy.”
In 2023, it was hard to go anywhere without hearing something about “Barbenheimer.” And while the dual release date of the very different films certainly helped one another, Barbie still stands on its own. Director Greta Gerwig masterfully blends pop-art production design, likable humor, fantastic performances and a fun adventure story all packed into a movie that essentially functions as a toy advertisement. Gosling’s iconic performance of “I’m Just Ken” should have clinched him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
4. ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ (2007)
IMDb score: 7.3
Lars (Gosling) is socially awkward and has always struggled to meet women, and his friends and family frequently worry about him. Then, when Lars claims to have made a girlfriend over the internet, his family is thrilled — that is, until they meet her. Lars has come to believe that he is in a genuine relationship with a lifelike sex doll named Bianca. Since Lars’ therapist (Patricia Clarkson) sees it best for his mental health that Lars gets this fantasy out of his system, his community ends up seeing the odd situation through with him.
Lars and the Real Girl takes its oddball premise and crafts an earnest exploration of loneliness and the journey towards healing from trauma. Rather than indulge in mean-spirited humor, Craig Gillespie refuses to treat Lars’ nonsexual romance with Bianca as a one-note punchline. Instead, the script emphasizes Lars’ genuine feelings and the love of the people in his life. The result is a story about a guy dating a sex doll that becomes a surprisingly tender-hearted film.
3. ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ (2012)
IMDb score: 7.3
The Place Beyond the Pines is a crime thriller drama that chronicles three interlocking stories in Schenectady, New York: Luke Ganton (Gosling) a motorcycle stuntman in a traveling carnival in 1994, who turns to a life of crime to support the woman he loves (Eva Mendes) and their infant; driven cop Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) who decides to confront the corrupt actions of his police department; and two troubled teenagers named Jason (Dane DeHaan) and AJ (Emory Cohen), intimately affected by the lives of both Luke and Avery fifteen years later.
With a deeply intricate script, director Derek Cianfrance (who previously directed Gosling in Blue Valentine) handles The Place Beyond the Pines with an intimacy that enhances the characters’ performances. The film is a fascinating and ambitious epic that explores masculinity, the relationships between fathers and sons and how familial sins are passed down like generational trauma. The textured writing and impressive technical cohesion create a truly immersive work.
2. ‘The Nice Guys’ (2016)
IMDb score: 7.4
Private eye Holland March (Gosling) is hired to find a woman’s missing niece, adult actress (Murielle Telio), and this search leads March to a young woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley). Amelia then hires Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe), a violent enforcer, to get March off her scent, and Healey breaks into March’s home and roughs him up. But March and Healey find themselves sticking with one another when Amelia really gets out of Dodge, and the two mismatched men both sense that she is being hunted down by some dangerous people.
The Nice Guys might have a central mystery that sounds intriguing, but it’s largely unimportant when it comes to what actually makes the film work. Director Shane Black instead places emphasis elsewhere to make his old-school buddy comedy tick. Relying less on action and special effects, he finds a sweet spot of character-driven comedy with sharp dialogue and a laugh-out-loud use of slapstick. But The Nice Guys wouldn’t be what it is without Crowe and Gosling, who make an unexpected Odd Couple comedy duo for the ages.
1. ‘Drive’ (2011)
IMDb score: 7.8
A Hollywood stuntman and mechanic known only as the “Driver” (Gosling) moonlights as a getaway driver for hire, and he projects an icy demeanor that maintains his aura as a lone wolf. However, the Driver finds himself getting close to his pretty new neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son (Kaden Leos). But that closeness comes with a cost, and when Irene’s criminal husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) is released from prison, he decides to hire the Driver for a multi-million dollar heist. But when the plan goes horribly awry, the Driver is forced to do everything he can to protect Irene and her son.
Three out of four stars How much do you like science fiction? No disrespect meant to Ryan Gosling, but that’s the only question that matters when it comes to whether or not you’ll enjoy Project Hail Mary, a 156-minute epic about the vastness of the galaxy (in theaters Friday, March 20). Based on the beloved […]
Drive is more than just a filmbro movie — it’s also a riveting and hyper-stylized blend of neo-noir, propulsive action, tender character drama and horror movie violence. Shot and edited with a meticulous clarity of vision, director Nicolas Winding Refn crafts an arthouse action film for the modern age; an atmospheric, impossibly tense and moody, neon-lit version of Los Angeles that is carried by an infectious synth-heavy soundtrack. Gosling’s powerful and restrained performance as the Driver is the best of his career.
