No PR here: Ryan Gosling tells it like it is in Alec Baldwin’s hit-and-miss Cannes doco Seduced and Abandoned

RYAN Gosling ditches the PR puff to reveal plight of the modern actor as Alec Baldwin tackles Hollywood heavyweights in Cannes caper.

IT’S an oddly conceived documentary, but not without its merits.

At the very least, movie tragics who have a trip to the Cannes Film Festival on their bucket list will be wanting to check Seduced and Abandoned out.

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Actor Alec Baldwin made his maiden trip to the event in 2012, and took along a film crew to capture his first impressions.

Alec Baldwin and James Toback in a scene from Seduced and Abandoned.

Bit of a shame he also dragged along his good friend director James Toback, who’s a pretentious blowhard. And that’s on a good day.

The film is at its very best when Baldwin informally cross-examines respected names such as Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, Bernardo Bertolucci, James Caan and Jessica Chastain.

Alec Baldwin and James Toback.

All are grand interviewees who connect with Baldwin immediately, and feel confident enough to talk a little more “off the record” than they usually might.

Ryan Gosling (the most eloquent of the bunch!) goes even further, summarising the plight of the modern actor in a way you’ll never hear from his ilk when in puff-piece promotional mode.

The doco might have fared even better if it had had have dispensed with the idea of Baldwin and Toback touting a non-existent film project to a passing parade of disinterested money men.

The duo’s sales pitch gets lamer and less coherent with each subsequent try, which does not make for grand entertainment.

More conversation would have been welcome instead of these lazy goof-offs interrupting the flow every few minutes.

■ Seduced and Abandoned is now showing in Victoria, with other states to follow.

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED (M)

Director: James Toback (Tyson)

Starring: Alec Baldwin, James Toback, Martin Scorsese, Ryan Gosling, Roman Polanski

Verdict: Three stars. Smart Alec a Cannes-do kind of guy