MovieChat Forums > All Good Things (2010) Discussion > A few questions for those who've seen it...

A few questions for those who've seen it

posted 14 years ago by Montmartre-El
12 replies | jump to latest

1. What was up with Ryan Gosling's character's family? Were they doing something illegal or did they just own a lot of seedy businesses?
What was with the money information in the journal that Katie sent to the senator and why did she send it there?

2. Why was the main guy (I'm sorry... is it David?) so screwed up? Are we supposed to have any idea why his mother killed herself? Or why
the dad knew the mom was about to jump off a roof and didn't do anything to stop it?

3. So was the brunette just a childhood friend that was close enough with him to help him cover up his missing wife? And was this something
that was just added for the movie? Was there any proof that she ever put on a blonde wig and prenteded to be Kate for his sake?

4. Also, Ryan's character.. seriously: I felt like there was almost a scene missing: What made him go from being a nice loving husband to
what he turned into? Was it working for his family finally? Why did he start wearing glasses all of a sudden and not talking and being moody?
I just was confused on his entire character development! I understand he wanted to be someone else, but why did he dress as a woman of all
things? And that older man Melbourn killed somebody just so he could live in a house with him because he was being evicted? Was that just
put in for the movie with no evidence behind it?

Sorry for so many, I enjoyed the film and thought the actors (particularly Kristin) did a great job, I just had a lot more questions than answers.
Atleast I'm not asking whether or not he killed her, since that is one I know no one actually knows..

DCAC member
Come what may.

[–] phoenixowsnthenight 14 years ago

A lot of your questions are meant to be unanswered because the filmmaker and screenwriter themselves don't know concrete answers. No one has ever admitted to anything.

SPOILERS

I will say this. I think David killed her, the father found her body in the trunk, and had someone else dispose of it, and maybe David never asked where it had been hidden.

[–] adlion944 14 years ago

I'll add a question - who was the fat mean looking bald guy hanging around the mayor and staking out Times Square with the cop? They never paid that off. What were they after?

[–] iseepinkelefants 14 years ago

I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can drawing from the movie and little from the real life story of Robert Durst.

1) They didn't own anything illegal per se but in the 70's (before NYC was cleaned up in the late 90's) Times Square used to be a hot spot for the depraved. If you've seen Taxi Driver you probably have an idea. David's family is respectable yet they're perpetrating the crime in the city by renting to businesses like porno theaters and possibly cheap, seedy hotels. It's not a great image for a family that prides itself as the toast of New York which is probably why David had to go down to collect money so it was kept hush-hush.

2) Robert/David has mental problems that were probably exacerbated by seeing his mother kill herself. In the movie his father says he allowed him to stay up there and watch her die because he hoped she would see him and not jump. In real life David was said to be autistic? But who really knows. He certainly has some mental disability.

3) Susan/Deborah met Robert/David in college. They were so close she apparently called him her brother. The movie kept it pretty close to real life, with the exception of the blonde wig. There's no proof she did that. But people believe the phone call made to the medical school after Katie disappeared it was made by Sarah. It was thought that Robert had her act like Katie so people would think she was still alive at the time.

4) David had mental problems. I'm sure in the beginning it was blissful like any relationship. Maybe working for his father exacerbated his condition? Maybe he stopped pretending and turned into the monster he really was? Who knows for sure.

The wig was worn by him so he could escape being David Marks. After Katie died his picture was splashed all over the papers and tv, so I guess he figured nobody would recognize him in drag.

I'm not sure about Black killing Susan so he could live with David. In fact I'm not sure Black killed Susan. I haven't read much on him when researching Robert Durst (David).

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all

[–] kjcolorado22 14 years ago

I think pinkelephants answered many of the questions adequately. I just wanted to add some of my observations. I don't know much about psychology (though it fascinates me) but I think David witnessing his mother's suicide played a huge part in why he was the way he was. But he also went without MANY MANY things humans need to have healthy relationships and take care of themselves. Just within David's relationship with his father alone David was never accepted, shown affection or value. In fact David's father essentially used him as a pawn to attempt to control his wife's behavior when she wanted to kill herself. He was never protected by his father in addition to being constantly degraded. I find it interesting that in the movie when David was explaining to the jury why he went back to work with his father that he felt "like it was the right thing to do." David was constantly trying to win his father's approval though to any person on the outside would have seen how impossible that was. But again, David was never raised with enough confidence or self-worth to go against what people imposed on him and what they thought he should be. In the beginning he fell in love with Katie and they went after his dream but the minute his father came around and expressed his dis-approval, David immediately packed up and did what his father wanted him to do. I think being far away from his father was a good thing but he didn't have enough confidence and security to say "this is my life and what I want. Your opinion doesn't matter."

You had also asked about Deborah wearing the blond wig. The story in the movie is a pieced-together hypothesis based on court documents and research. In one of the special features on the DVD one of the screenwriters talks about the 2 1/2 years of research that took place before the movie was made. Between all the writers there was three theories on what actually happened and the one in the movie was the most agreeable between the writers and the research they had conducted. What is presented in the movie is, at best, educated guesses but there's obviously truth to what is presented.

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[–] Slogutis 14 years ago

I would really like more information on the financial part of the plot. I can't really seem to piece together what the family was doing and was that Avon thing was.

As the poster Iseepin says about getting the money to keep things hush, hush. How exactly does picking up money help make a problem go away? I would understand if they had to pay someone off but that was never stated. The whole thing was just confusing and I didn't understand any scene that had to do with the business side.

Also, the book that his wife sent to the senator. What the hell was that? Anyone?

[–] iseepinkelefants 14 years ago

They were taking the money hush-hush because the porn theaters and whore houses were their tenants and if it was made public (like looking at their books) that they were publicly saying one thing and doing another it would be bad for them and their reputation. The porn theaters weren't illegal, but I'm sure raids on whore houses would have been very bad if their name was connected to the building.

My guess is because the city was being cleaned up and it was harder and harder for sex proprietors to find places for their businesses, the Dursts offered them a place but at a price. Sure they were being fleeced but better that than not having any where to go.

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all

[–] slimchopra 14 years ago

All of the answers are there in the movie. Or at least there's enough information to draw an obvious conclusion. Maybe I can shed some light on these questions.

1. What was up with Ryan Gosling's character's family? Were they doing something illegal or did they just own a lot of seedy businesses?
What was with the money information in the journal that Katie sent to the senator and why did she send it there?

As was said, they owned a lot of businesses that conflicted with their image as a professional corporation. There's a line where someone says something like "most people only see the big buildings and think that's where the money comes from. They don't know about the strip clubs and porno theaters"

2. Why was the main guy (I'm sorry... is it David?) so screwed up? Are we supposed to have any idea why his mother killed herself? Or why
the dad knew the mom was about to jump off a roof and didn't do anything to stop it?

That one is pretty straightforward. Seeing his mother's suicide traumatized him. The only evidence given for why she did was that she couldn't tolerate the father. He seemed very controlling and cold. For instance, he kept pushing the main character to work for him and he asked Katie's mother to pay for their half of the meal when they went out to eat.

3. So was the brunette just a childhood friend that was close enough with him to help him cover up his missing wife? And was this something
that was just added for the movie? Was there any proof that she ever put on a blonde wig and prenteded to be Kate for his sake?

She was a close friend yes. I don't know if she was based on a real person because I've only seen the movie. I imagine the fact that she told David that she was going to tell people what happened to Katie is evidence enough that she was doing it for him. Plus she was clearly blackmailing for money even though she didn't say it in so many words.

4. Also, Ryan's character.. seriously: I felt like there was almost a scene missing: What made him go from being a nice loving husband to
what he turned into? Was it working for his family finally? Why did he start wearing glasses all of a sudden and not talking and being moody?
I just was confused on his entire character development! I understand he wanted to be someone else, but why did he dress as a woman of all
things? And that older man Melbourn killed somebody just so he could live in a house with him because he was being evicted? Was that just
put in for the movie with no evidence behind it?

There was nothing really missing from his development. At first you only see the surface of the character, but then you start to see what's really going on with him. There were obviously clues such as his friend asking if Katie knew how really messed up he was. Once things started progressing with Katie we started to see his other side. When the topic of the baby came up he obviously couldn't handle it and keep up the pleasant persona.

He dressed up like a woman probably because he wanted a female influence in his life since his mother died. Yes Melbourn did him a favor so he could live with him. I don't know about whether that really happened though.

[–] thepoet26 13 years ago

The female friend was indeed based on a real person and did end up dead. Neither her murder nor the wife's have ever been solved. If I'm not mistaken, part of the reason the killer wasn't convicted of murdering the old man is because none of the past suspicions about him could be brought into court. I think that information was deemed prejudicial so the jury never heard it.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo

[–] BB7827 13 years ago

The real life character David Marks was based on was found guilty of "inproper disposal of a body." Not a felony in Texas it would seem.

"I'm with the Government and I'm here to help you." me, every d@mn day of my life

[–] 13 years ago

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