English: Ryan Gosling at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If we didn’t before, we know now that the world is full of psychopaths and psychopaths are often the main characters we cheer for in the films we love.  Ryan Gosling in Drive plays a well meaning, super hero psychopath or an insane person doing insane things that we cheer for because of their warped sense of honor. Think Batman without the mask.

As an actor Gosling is consistently good (better than good)  and I am impressed with the diversity of the acting roles he has taken on and just how good he is in each of these films. Some of his credits:

• Lars and the Real Girl –
• Blue Valentine –
• Drive –
• Crazy, Stupid Love –
• All Good Things –
• The Ides of March –

Film is a directors medium, I believe, and actors don’t have much input in what eventually shows up on the big screen. Being consistent is not only about hard work, it is also about a gift that some artist have in being able to deliver a creditable and powerful  portraits of imaginary people.We identify with flawed characters even if when they are despicable. Actors give us the chance to understand something about ourselves and to get over it.

Director, writer Terrence Malick whose work I admire  has a  film in production which features both Gosling and “Christian Bale”, another actor who often plays a confused hero or psychopath, and he too is very convincing.