Hey girl, America loves Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling has an odd love affair with America.
The actor who can be broody like Brando in one film and goofy like a cast member of “Jersey Shore” in another, has the usual swarms of people who adore his good looks and offbeat charisma. But somehow, at some point in the past decade, Gosling became an Internet cult hero.
Google “Gosling Hey Girl” and you’ll find Gosling as a meme, with his mug supporting a variety of heart-surging statements like, “Hey girl, feel my sweater. You know what it’s made of ? Boyfriend material,” or, “Hey girl, I love how you made that mason jar into a lamp.”
Yeah, it’s corny and cheesy, and so fun.
Kind of like the Gosling coloring book. Because, who wouldn’t want to color inside the lines of a shirtless Gosling. Or, maybe you’re into outside the line work?
Regardless, there’s a certain wonder to Gosling that most of the Hollywood hunks can’t cop. But he’s still an actor, first. So with his latest film, “The Nice Guys” opening Friday, here are Gosling’s best-reviewed films, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes.
92% A Drive (2011) hyperstylized blend of striking imagery and violence, “Drive” represents a fully realized vision of art-house action — and Gosling is moody and charismatic as an expert driver who runs afoul of gangsters.
90% Half Nelson (2006) “Half Nelson” features powerful performances from Gosling as a drugaddled public school teacher and Shareeka Epps as his unlikely savior. It’s a wise, unsentimental portrait of lonely people at the crossroads.
88%(2015) The Big Short The movie approaches a serious, complicated subject with an impressive attention to detail and delivers a scathingly funny indictment of its real-life villains, thanks in part to its outstanding cast (which includes Gosling as a shrewd bond salesman).
88%Valentine Blue (2010) This emotionally gripping examination of a marriage on the rocks isn’t always easy to watch, but Michelle Williams and Gosling give performances of unusual depth and power.
84% March The Ides of (2011) With standout performances from George Clooney and Gosling as a presidential candidate and his press secretary, respectively, this is a supremely well-acted drama that moves at a measured, confident clip.
82% The Believer (2001) Playing a Jewish Harvard student who joins a racist skinhead gang, Gosling commands the screen with a raw, electrifying performance in this provocative but undeniably powerful film.
81%the Lars and Real Girl (2007) This could’ve so easily been a one-joke movie — about a man in love with a mannequin. But the talented cast — particularly Gosling as the traumatized, eccentric Lars — a great script and direction never condescends to its character or the audience.
80% Beyond Pines (2013)The Place the Ambitious to a fault, “The Place Beyond the Pines” finds writer/director Derek Cianfrance exploring thorny themes of family, fatherhood and fate; helping him to succeed is Gosling as a desperate criminal locked in a battle of wits with a police officer.
78% Love. Crazy, Stupid, (2011) It never lives up to the first part of its title, but this movie’s unabashed sweetness — and its terrifically talented cast, including Gosling as a smooth playboy — more than makes up for its flaws.
73% The Slaughter Rule (2002) A bleak but original indie, “The Slaughter Rule” benefits from outstanding performances by Gosling, as a troubled high school football player, and David Morse.