Right Cinema

Since the kiss felt around the world in The Notebook (2004), Ryan Gosling has extended himself as an actor playing roles far off the beaten path. In Half Nelson (2006), Gosling was nominated for a best actor Oscar playing an endearing eighth-grade drug-addicted teacher who develops a close relationship with one of his students who catches him smoking crack in the bathroom. In Lars and the Real Girl (2007), he is a shy and delusional young man who brings the love of his life, a blow-up doll, to his brother’s house. Anyone can make really obscure independent flicks, but Gosling is one of the few actors that draws you into becoming invested in his character and, in turn, becoming invested in the film.

Who could have seen this coming? The cute, baby-faced actor who got his start with the Mickey Mouse Club alongside Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera (that’s him second from left on the top row) and became popular with a well-done, but relatively safe movie in The Notebook, has become one of today’s finest and most daring actors.

Looking at Ryan Gosling’s filmography, I came across a film that he did way before the Notebook, and that proves to me that he has always been unafraid to take on challenging roles. What if a young kid raised as an Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva becomes a fanatically Neo-Nazi by his 20s? That is the plot of The Believer (2001), where a 20-year old Gosling delivers a one-of-a-kind performance.

The Believer is as disturbing as it is thought provoking. As much as I detested the Nazi ideals of Danny Balint (Gosling), I could not take my eyes off of him, and I could not stop trying to understand why. Why would this Jewish kid become a Neo-Nazi? Gosling is razor sharp in this movie, and I had to continuously remind myself that he was only 20-years old. Gosling’s character is deeply conflicted between his hatred for Jews and his ongoing battle with faith in Judaism. In a very simplistic way, you could compare it to a teenager who at once both loves his parents and hates some of the contradictions and hypocrisies any authority figure inevitably represents. As a brilliant young student, Danny’s continuous questioning and challenging of God and the accepted interpretations of the Torah (Old Testament) make him somewhat of an outcast. As he grows up and his anger matures, he finds answers and power through his following of the Nazi doctrine.

I would definitely recommend The Believer, but not if you are looking for a light-hearted entertaining movie. The controversial film forces you to think, and Gosling’s performance forces you to recognize his undeniable talent. Gosling is anything but safe in this movie, but he has shown us that he has no interest in playing it safe.

It is utterly absurd to watch The Believer, and then watch Gosling in the Mickey Mouse Club where he performed pop songs with Justin and JC Chasez. Watch the trailer for “The Believer” and a clip of Gosling in the Mickey Mouse Club below.