Director:
Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Dane DeHaan. Bruce Greenwood, Rose Byrne
Rating: Rated R for language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and a sexual refrence
A motorcycle stunt rider turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for his lover and their newborn child, a decision that puts him on a collision course with an ambitious rookie cop navigating a department ruled by a corrupt detective.
In 2010 director Derek Cianfrance bursted on the scene with the highly controversial "Blue Valentine" starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The film gain controversy over its real depiction of a failing marriage between the two star actors in the movie. It became off putting to some people and ended up falling under the radar despite its award consideration. Back in 2012, when "The Place Beyond the Pines" got its film debut at the Toronto International Film Festival I was quickly hook. A film that looked like an action movie with real depth featutring an all-star cast from Ryan Gosling to Bradley Cooper I couldn't wait to see this movie, it also held a perfect score on rottentomatoes until about a month before its first release which is a big deal as even the best films don't keep perfect scores long on rottentomatoes. Honeslty I was very excited for this film as it was one of my most anticipated of 2013 and after seeing despite a falling in the third act of the film this film was incredible journey and a highly important film everyone should see.
If I go to in-depth into the plot you will quixkly get spoiled so I will talk about the film in a general description. Just like I liked about "Blue Valentine" this film feels very real, the writing is top notch and helps ground this film in a more realistic setting. All these characters we are introduced to throughout the movie feel very real and relatable. The film also is very shocking as it goes in directions you really never believed it would go. The film is basically told in three short stories that all intertwind at the end and while at first I didn't know how I felt about the unconventional story structure it did grow on me as it proved how great of a story teller Derek Cianfrance is. The film features a theme of choices we make and the effects they have on us long term. I feel this is really where the film hits home. The film doesn't work as a happy film with clear resolution like most movies as this film takes the real approach and our characters end up in situations directly linked to the choices they made in life. In the beginning I stated that the only real problem I had in the film was the last third of the film. I didn't hate the last third of the film but it came off a little weird to me. Again without going to in depth into a story elements the last third of the film takes a time jump that I didn't feel like it gelled with the rest of the story. The first two-thirds of the film are in a one year time-span it felt like it dealed directly in that time and to take a time jump feels like its almost takes you out of it. I appreciated showing the long term effects of the story but I almost wished they would have kept it in the same time frame as the first two-thirds. The film keeps the same underlying themes of the first two-thirds and I think while looking back at the film as a whole it did work and why didn't have a big problem with it.
With an all-star ensemble I knew the film's acting was going to be top-notch and it even was better than I could expected. Slowly but surely Ryan Gosling has became one of my favorite actors working today and he steals this film on every conceivable level. Even though he is making bad decisions for good reasons, you stil root for him and I think that has a lot to do with how great Ryan Gosling is at playing this character. Bradley Cooper has also seen has star rise lately with his oscar nominated role in "Silver Linings Playbook" and this might just be almost as good a performance in that film. Cooper plays a detective dealing with corruption within his police department and his story worked just as well with his performance. His character similar to Gosling is a person dealing with bad life choices at I liked the differences and similarities shown between the characters. The only person I really wasn't sold on acting wise was Dane Dehaan who shows up in the last third as a seventeen year old loner contemplating a life of crime. I don't know what put me off most about him as I felt he probably was just over shined by Gosling and Cooper's oscar worthy performances because he wasn't bad just wasn't on par. The rest of the cast from Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, and Rose Byrne were also good just only featured limitedly throughout the movie so I won't go to in-depth with them. Overall the acting was good and helped elevate this movie to even a higher level.
After working on the small film "Blue Valetnine" this film featured the first forray into mainstream film for Derek Cianfrance and his style of filmmaking is a breath of fresh air as the film doesn't feature the same conventions most action films feature. The grounded tone also really makes you think about the movie and the message the director is trying to convey in the film. If I had to bring up a negative in the film is that I wished that they would have focused on the first two acts of the story because their was an interesting narrative right there instead of shorthanding those for the third act. I understand the importance the third act held as it wouldn't to show the long term effects of what happened in the first two-thirds of the film, but I felt in the end they didn't need to take it in that direction. The few action scenes the film did have was really well done as over-the-top action directors COUGH Michael Bay COUGH could learn that the more subtle the action is shot in the more effective it is. Alone the film could also be nominated alone on directing because the directing was very well done. The third act is the only place I really had a problem with the film, but like I stated earlier looking back at the film as a whole it was incredibly well done.
Overall, "The Place Beyond the Pines" was everything I would have hoped it could have been. A thought provoking action-drama with a very good message. I also really enjoyed in the end there was no clear good or bad guy as the film leaves it up to you to determine the outcome of the film. The film falters in its third act that sort of takes you out of the action but looking at the film as a whole it really does work. With the film year so far sort of faltering this is a film if you can find it you definitely need to see it.
Final Grade: A-
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