From the director of Blue Valentine comes a drama that is sure to move and amaze people who are old enough to understand it, The Place Beyond the Pines. Set in Schenectady, New York, this crime drama features great direction in Derek Cianfrance, touching screenplay, unique cinematography and a star-studded cast in Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Ray Liotta.
Riveting to watch, the film revolves around three stories. The first tells of Luke Glanton (Gosling), a chain-smoking tattoo clad motorcycle stuntman, who tries to provide for a family he did not know he had by using his skillset to rob small banks. With the help of his friend Robin, they do so successfully until one day he decided to be greedy and a rookie cop by the name of Avery Cross chases him down.
The next story revolves around the said cop, Avery Cross (Cooper). The son of a former supreme court judge and a recently made hero – thanks to recent events that cannot be divulged in this article due to the risk of spoiling it – Cross becomes witness to corruption as some of his police buddies work above the law to benefit themselves. A family man himself, Cross tries to do the right thing and as the story unfolds 15 years later, the story now focuses on his son AJ and Jason, Luke’s son.
The finals act of this movie now focuses on these two boys who become friends after AJ moves back to Jason’s school. They smoke drugs and have a good time but this doesn’t last as Jason discovers a secret his family is keeping from him and soon leaves his old life behind to travel west.
A fresh take on the crime genre, this film’s positives outweigh the negatives by a huge margin. One such positive is the ensemble. Gosling and Cooper have really matured from their days living in the world of romance and comedy. Veteran actors Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes were immersed in their characters so much that it was as if they had just suffered from amnesia and were living different lives.
The cinematography is something to look out for. The vibe the setting gave off complements the film as a whole as it helped enhance the plot as well as the characters; it emanates the feeling of hardship and sadness that will make any moviegoer tear up. The use of the camera angles and viewpoints during certain scenes like the car chase scenes is really quite new and adds a feel of authenticity to the movie; it is as if it were filmed by people who lived witnessed it to happen.
The plot was in itself a plus. The way it was constructed actually resembles a darker, more tragic time-based version of Crazy, Stupid, Love (This may have been Ryan Gosling’s idea, but then again maybe not). It twists and turns to make it an emotional roller coaster ride that will keep people awake and actually provoke mild bipolar disorder. The film is and should be a breath of fresh air to people who feel they have seen everything and to those who are more realistic than some.
A good story is nothing without its script and this films’ was amazing. The scriptwriters – Derek Cianfrance, Ben Cioccio and Darius Marder – were able to play around with the plotline and construct an amazing screenplay, one that could win awards in the future. Clearly, it isn’t easy to create something with so much drama and they were able to create it in such a way that the stories were smooth and cohesive. There were no obvious coincidences that make the film viewer question if the situations were at all plausible.
The only thing that could be said negatively about the film was that it was too long. It is true that three parts in 140 minutes is a time saver but some parts just felt too dull that it might induce people to nap or go into “cellphone commas”, where they use their phones instead of paying attention to the movie.
In totality, The Place Beyond the Pines is a picture that most young adults (it is rated R-16 after all) and fans of Ryan Gosling and/or Bradley Cooper should watch. An amazing film with a spectacular cast, great cinematography and direction outweighs the lengthiness of the film. Though not a guaranteed tearjerker, it will definitely prompt film viewers to contemplate on certain aspects of their lives and leave them in a trance.
This movie is a must for those that want something serious amidst the wave of comedies and animated films. If one prefers the comedy that comes along with multicolored monsters then Monster’s University should be the one to watch.
