Shot Locally In 2008

‘All Good Things’

Finally Heading To The Big Screen

By John Voket

Surfing through streaming downloads from Amazon.com and finding a pre-theatrical preview of the film All Good Things last weekend was almost as much of a surprise as the day I discovered its star, Kirsten Dunst, sitting out in front of Newtown General Store taking in the sights of Main Street two summers ago.

Wow, has it been that long since the film crew and cast members converged on Newtown, enjoying our lodging hospitality while finalizing several scenes at a house on Lake Lillinonah, and completing some other principal photography before moving on to a number of other Connecticut locations?

According to the production history of this film, which also has some unfortunate tangential themes relating to real-life happenings in Newtown, it has taken an unusually long time for All Good Things to reach even the small screen — in the form of this Amazon pre-theatrical download — never mind the marquees of multiplexes across the nation.

But the elusive project, a mysterious thriller that saw about 80 percent of its principal filming done in Connecticut, is finally sanctioned for limited theatrical release on December 3.

In addition to Dunst, the film also features Connecticut born actress Diane Venora, Ryan Gosling, Kristen Wiig, along with veterans Frank Langella and Philip Baker Hall among its ensemble cast.

Inspired by one of the most notorious missing person’s case in New York history, the film is a love story and murder mystery set against the backdrop of a New York real estate dynasty in the 1980s. Produced and directed by Andrew Jarecki (director of the Academy Award-nominated doc Capturing the Friedmans and producer of Catfish), the film was inspired by the story of Robert Durst, scion of the wealthy Durst family.

Mr Durst was suspected but never tried for killing his wife Kathie, who disappeared in 1982 and was never found. The film successfully captures the emotion and complexion of this real-life unsolved mystery.

Although its picturesque location in Newtown was not chosen because of the high-profile crimes and missing person cases local police have handled over the last three decades including the notorious Crafts “wood chipper” murder, the Regina Brown cold-case, and the recent discovery of remains of the long missing Elizabeth Heath, now an active murder investigation, the plot certainly has more than a few overlapping similarities.

What is most compelling about All Good Things is the way the characters and director help keep the dark evil that is apparent, and sometimes offhandedly referred to in the course of on-screen discussions, simmering just under the surface of what is revealed.

While none of the performances jump off the screen, most of the principal players do a great job sustaining their interactive continuity from the starting point of the film in the early 1970s, to the point about a decade later when the cops finally start investigating Gossling’s character (Durst) as a likely suspect after his once effervescent wife suddenly goes missing.

Dunst does some decent work, as we watch her hopeful, even joyous personality begin to slough away revealing a growing suspicion and paranoia.

And Gossling certainly gets points for his portrayal of the troubled Durst, a trust fund benefactor to a multimillion dollar fortune, who suffers from mild autism. He drifts through his portrayal seemingly unattached from the drama involving the unsolved disappearance of his first wife; the unsolved fatal shooting of his confidante in Los Angeles; a secret second marriage; another fatal shooting (this time paired with a grisly dismemberment); living on the cheap disguised as a woman; and the eventual nationwide manhunt that ended with a shoplifting arrest.

In real life, and in the film’s prologue, we learn that Durst received an acquittal for the murder dismemberment, although he ended up serving some prison time for parole violations.

If the story line, or the ensemble of capable actors are not enough to draw you to see All Good Things, consider checking it out for all the Connecticut locations used in its production. Not only are the scenes shot on Lake Lillinonah immediately recognizable, but other scenes shot at Fairfield University, on Canal Street in neighboring Shelton, at a general store in Gaylordsville, in Waterbury and at the Ridgefield Community Center are also fun to watch.

At press time, All Good Things was still available as a pre-theatrical preview from Amazon.com. According to its production company Magnolia Pictures, the film is set to open in limited theater release on December 3.