“Hey girl, I’d get your name tattooed on my body if there was any room left.”
After going through a dying marriage with Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine, Ryan Gosling teams up with director Derek Cianfrance again for their latest outing The Place Beyond the Pines starring Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn, Dane DeHaan, and Ray Liotta. I was immediately interested in this film right when the trailer came out. It looked like such a good crime film that also depicted relationships between fathers and sons, but now that I’ve finally seen the film, I can say that I was right and not so right. For those that haven’t seen Place Beyond the Pines yet, here’s the whole rundown:
‘Luke, a traveling motorcycle stuntman, returns to the town of Schenectady, New York were he meets Romina, a woman he had a fling with once before. Luke realizes that Romina had a child, Jason, while he was gone and he’s the father. When Luke decides that he wants to be Jason’s life, he teams up with a mechanic to rob banks so he can provide for his son. But after Luke makes a brief encounter with police officer Avery Cross, their families are forever linked with a tragic event that controls the destinies of both Luke’s and Avery’s sons.’
I saw Blue Valentine about 6 months back and was impressed the film overall, but I did have a problem with that searing theme of dying love that inhabited that film. That feeling of hope just gone and there was no recovering it, and I was afraid that Place Beyond the Pines would have those same kind of themes. Pines does have a depleting sense of hope as the film goes, but its overall a lighter film with a lot more on its mind. Director/co-writer Derek Cianfrance has created something more palpable and scenic than Valentine, and had me rooting for the characters to succeed more than fail. As the movie progressed, I was perplexed as to who is the most sympathetic character because they all needed to be loved equally. And with this somber theme that plays out in different sections of the film, it perfectly matches what the characters were feeling and what I was feeling.
The acting is amazing all around the board. Ryan Gosling is fantastic as Luke, making me see what a vulnerable man he was underneath the tattooed exterior. I loved how he made this character come to life. [Which by the way, don’t ever get a face tattoo in real life, Ryan Gosling.] Bradley Cooper I’ve never really been a big fan of, and even in Silver Linings Playbook I thought he was just good. But here, I turned the other cheek and saw what a talent he possess, for he was as great, if not better than Gosling. Playing Avery Cross, he shows off a dramatic side that I’ve never really seen from him. In Silver Linings I did see vulnerability, but in Pines he’s a distraught man fighting demons inside and outside the police department, and he’s excellent at it. You really get a sense that his characters in danger all the time as he’s chasing down criminals or revealing corrupt intentions in his police force. And maybe if this film came out the same time as Silver Linings Playbook, I think Bradley Cooper would have looking at another nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Just sayin’. This is also the best I’ve seen Eva Mendes. She’s not quite up to par with Gosling and Cooper, but I think she gave a pretty solid performance overall as Romina. The rest of the supporting cast including Ben Mendelsohn and Ray Liotta were also really good, but I would like to talk about Dane DeHaan in particular… this guy is an amazing actor. DeHaan plays a troubled kid in school that is going down a path of crime when he meets another troubled youth. You could argue this is kind of like his character in Chronicle, but I feel that DeHaan has broken the stereotype in this role. I loved the way he inhabited this character and brought so much depth to this role. I think we’ll be seeing a lot him in the future, and hell, maybe even some Oscar buzz by next year if he’s lucky.
Cianfrance does a great job not just behind the pen but behind the camera, as he grabs hold of every scene with an intense presence. Whether it’s fleeing a robbery on a motorcycle or just a tracking shot of Gosling walking to his death cage, the direction is a personal look at these characters from beginning to end. There’s a couple of issues I have with this film, mostly in part with the score. The music in this film sometimes is a little bombastic and overzealous at times, and each musical piece seems more intense than the other, which took me out of the film just a little bit at times. Also, the script can feel kind of rushed at times when it comes to certain characters, and when we finally see those characters again it almost seems like they were just filler to move the plot along. But really, nothing else changed my perception of this film.
I think Derek Cianfrance has created something very memorable and exciting for film lovers, but I also think he’s made himself seem more memorable and exciting because I’m ready for this guy has up his sleeve next. I hope you all go see The Place Beyond the Pines in theaters. It’s definitely worth the $15 including popcorn and red vines, and I’m gonna give The Place Beyond the Pines an ‘A‘.
PNW review 