And because I'm on my meta tonight ...
There is some masterful character acting by Ryan Gosling in PHM whenever he cries. And I'm not talking about the fact that he cries, at all. I'm talking about how he cries around different characters.
That scene in the conference room when Stratt springs the surprise on him? And he starts crying, blank faced and closed off, and slowly reaches up a hand? Brushes the tears, glances at them briefly, with this transient look of surprise and frustration?
Like he didn't even feel the tears at first, like his body is betraying him, like he doesn't have time for this, like the last thing he wants is to cry in this situation ... Yet, no matter how many times he wipes them, he can't get rid of them. He stands up and backs away. He's panicking. Nothing about this is safe.
(He does the same thing at the space funeral, btw. He's scared. He's not safe. He's not ready.)
Compare this now to how he cries in front of Rocky. He doesn't try to hide it. "Grace go home!" He turns and there are tears streaming down his face. He doesn't try and leave. He doesn't hide or try and wipe them. He gets close to Rocky. He sobs. He lets it all out.
Compare again to when Rocky finally wakes up. He throws himself around the xenonite ball. A single tear falls down his cheek. His face is open, expressive. He doesn't wipe the tear. He lets it fall. He's so relieved and happy.
This is such subtly good character acting that I didn't notice it until the third watch because those scenes are so emotional in general, but wow did I notice it this time. I'm so grateful they kept Grace's character intact in the movie by letting him cry, and that Gosling brought such nuance to the execution.
