Genre: Crime, Drama
Release Date: March 29, 2013 (USA)
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ (out of ★ ★ ★ ★)
(Click here for more info on my rating scale)
An emotionally riveting, multi-layered, thought-provoking masterpiece.
The Place Beyond the Pines opens with a very long tracking
shot that follows a motorcycle stunt driver, Luke (Ryan Gosling), across a
carnival and into a tent containing the spherical metal stunt cage. This long tracking is an indicator that this
is going to be an ambitious, self-aware piece of filmmaking. And that’s what it is. Piercing through jumble of other films of the
early spring like a high-intensity electromagnetic wave comes The Place Beyond
the Pines, a well-written, well-acted, well-directed, emotional, intelligent,
suspenseful, multi-layered, thought-provoking film, and, in my opinion, one of
the best films of the year so far. It is
three-part drama that unfolds over a completely justified running length of
nearly two and a half hours.
The first part of the film is about the aforementioned
tattooed motorcycle stunt daredevil, Luke, a good-hearted but reckless and
troubled man. Ryan Gosling puts on an
excellent performance, bringing this character to life. A great portion of his performance is dialogue-free
and big on actions and facial expressions.
When he does speak, he speaks quietly and deliberately.
Eva Mendes plays Romina, whom Luke had slept with in the
past, and is now the mother of his infant son as a result of that fling. She is now with another man, but Luke,
determined to provide for her and his son, quits his job as a motorcycle stunt
driver and resorts to robbing banks to provide for them. This is a bad decision, obviously, and it leads
to even worse decisions.
This eventually leads Luke to cross paths with police
officer named Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).
Pretty soon, the first act ends.
The second act focuses on Avery, whom Bradley Cooper portrays with an
outstanding performance. Avery is an
ambitious rookie cop who looks to quickly move up the ranks in the
corruption-riddled police department in which he works. The third act of the film takes place fifteen
years after the end of the second act, and it focuses on the sons of Luke and
Avery, who are now in high school and are haunted by the past sins of their
fathers.
I don’t like this film as much as, say, The Godfather, but it is pretty far up there; it is bold and
innovative, with a strong emphasis on character and plot development; it is a
good example of expert storytelling.
Also, this film has a very strong personal touch to it; I truly cared
about the characters and felt all of the emotions that they felt throughout the
course of their experiences – love, guilt, emotional torment, embarrassment,
stress, etc. As the story progresses, it
takes some surprising and sometimes shocking turns, and there is a riveting
sense of tension all the way through the film.
This film is great character study, and it really gives us
some things to think about. It explores
themes including, but not limited to, guilt, justice, revenge, love, and even a
father’s love for his son. However,
there is one theme that stands out above the others explored in the film:
consequences. Actions have consequences,
the effects of which affect other people and the world, and can even ripple
through time and generations. The film
emphasizes and illustrates this theme very strongly, and it gives us some good
food for thought on the subject.
The movie is excellently filmed, and while the camera work
and cinematography is by no means the primary draw of the film, it really
enhanced the experience and helped pull me into the film. The music score is also very good. Overall, I can think of very little to
criticize about this film. Although, I
do have to admit, the third act of the film was slightly less powerful than the
previous two, and a little too slow. But
I still found it very compelling.
Again, overall, this film is en excellent example of what
can result from a great script, great performances, great directing, and lots
of heart and emotional punch. This film
has one of the strongest and most genuine heartbeats that I have felt in a film
in quite a while. I highly recommend this
film.
Remember, actions have consequences. Never forget that. Negative actions result in negative
consequences. Good actions result in
good consequences. For example, Derek
Cianfrance put in a great deal of focus and effort into making this film, and
the consequence is that he made an emotionally riveting, multi-layered,
thought-provoking masterpiece, which has earned high praise from me, and will
hopefully at least receive an Oscar nomination.
Cast and Credits:
Luke: Ryan Gosling
Romina: Eva Mendes
Avery Cross: Bradley Cooper
Deluca: Ray Liotta
Focus features presents
A film directed by Derek Cianfrance
Running time: 140 min.
Rated R for language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and a sexual reference.
