The Place Beyond the Pines Review
The Place Beyond the Pines is a deeply affecting family drama about paternal responsibility, a riveting crime story, a cop movie and a tragedy about how our decisions in life, and the skeletons in our closets, can affect much more than just ourselves. It also has the kind of story that you can barely touch upon without giving away the film's multiple surprising and blindsiding moments. Kudos to the person tasked with cutting this film's trailer.
Ryan Gosling reteams with his Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance in a story that once again spans many years, though this time without that film's fractured narrative. Gosling plays Luke, a motorcycle stunt rider who moves from town to town with a traveling carnival. He seems like a guy with little to no ambition, but everything changes when he learns that the fling he had a year ago with local girl Romina (Eva Mendes) has produced a son.
Desperate not to be like his own absent, deadbeat father, Luke puts his unique bike skills to use by robbing banks and making daring getaways. This puts him on a crash course with rookie cop Avery (Bradley Cooper), whose involvement with this ‘moto bandit’ not only affects his homelife, but also forces him to confront corruption within the police department, as well as his own morals.
Everyone in the film's cast is doing career-best work here. Ryan Gosling is absolutely magnetic, once again playing a cool character of few words, but one with plenty of visible emotion in his eyes. He's definitely in his wheelhouse with this kind of role. Bradley Cooper has proven to be an exceptional actor, continuing on from the stunning growth in dramatic maturity he showed in Silver Linings Playbook. Eva Mendez also does fine work as the mother that’s placed in an uneasy situation, filled with heartache. The ensemble also includes Ben Mendohlson, Rose Byrne, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen, Ray Liotta and Bruce Greenwood, all doing stellar work.
The Place Beyond the Pines has a much grander scope than you might expect from its marketing and trailers. The film’s third act, while not entirely unpredictable, is still best viewed with little prior knowledge. It is a shame, because fear of spoiling anything will prevent certain outstanding performances from getting the critical attention they deserve. Suffice it to say, those expecting Drive meets The Town will be in for a surprise.
Cianfrance takes a naturalistic approach with the film’s direction, never sacrificing dramatic beats in order to rush ahead to the exciting moments, of which there are quite a few. The film’s motorcycle chases are mostly shot in a point-of-view fashion, with a nail-biting intensity not seen since James Gray’s cop film, We Own The Night. More than anything though, Cianfrance is an actor’s director, coaxing performances of incredible calibre across the board. Additional texture is provided by Mike Patton (of Faith No More fame) and his haunting musical score.
The film does lean on tried-and-true cinematic conventions that we’ve seen before, and also relies heavily on coincidence, but it remains a riveting and thematically weighty drama regardless. It’s all about how these conventions are executed, and with The Place Beyond the Pines, they are executed brilliantly.
☆☆☆☆
Posted by Stephen Lambrechts - 30/4/2013
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