10 Ballsy Movies That Kill Off A Major Star In The First Act
4. The Place Beyond The Pines (Ryan Gosling)
Ryan Gosling, doing his Ryan Gosling schtick as a too cool for school James Dean stand-in, is advertised as the primary draw for this stylish crime drama. All the promotional materials focused on Gosling, with Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes flanking him on either side.
But while it may be a bummer for diehard Gosling fans to see him on the losing end of a gun battle just 50 minutes in, this is one early death that at least makes sense within the grand design of the move.
The film is devised as a triptych, playing out as three short stories that are interconnected by its three principal cast members. And once Gosling bites the bullet at the end of this first tale, it sets up the ensuing two acts, which focus on Mendes and Cooper's characters, and then Cooper's and Gosling's sons, respectively.
Still, whether by design or not, it's quite jarring to see Gosling's lifeless, bloody body sprawled out across the pavement in the early goings.