Top 2011: Actor do Ano

"If he was away from our screens for a while, he has more than made up for it this year. First up was the sour love story Blue Valentine, opposite Michelle Williams – a low budget independent picture with an original structure and a razor sharp eye for the kind of small, seemingly trivial tensions that can end up tearing a loving couple apart. He was excellent as the slick womanizer in the sharp farce Crazy, Stupid, Love, a much more mainstream movie but proof that Gosling could lighten up and send himself up a bit too. (Apparently it was Gosling who came up with the idea of slapping Steve Carrel – a little gesture that inspired the film’s pay-off.) It’s also proved his biggest box office hit yet, though Carrel can take most of the credit for that. He’s also compelling as the political operator who is forced to dig deep in this week’s George Clooney drama The Ides of March – a film in which Clooney relegates himself to a supporting role and passes the torch to his younger costar. But it’s the stylish crime thriller Drive that makes this a stellar year for Gosling fans. Not only because it’s one of the year’s critical favourites – and a prize-winner at Cannes to boot – but because his stunt man/mechanic/getaway driver is an iconic movie hero, which is a role not every great actor can carry off. And as it turns out, it fits him like a glove." (LoveFilm)