REVIEW: The Place Beyond The Pines

The Place Beyond The Pines (TPBTP) falls under the genre of crime-drama, however it’s an ambitious film that attempts to cover many more without quite doing so, at least not enough to really satisfy. Despite this, TPBTP has its flaws but is a thought-provoking and enjoyable film.

Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond The Pines

TPBTP boasts an impressive cast of Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Ray Liotta and is directed by Derek Cianfrance. Luke (Gosling) is a motorcycle stunt driver who travels across the country due to the nature of the job but when he returns to Altamont NY, he discovers that he is the father of a son with ex-romance, Romina (Mendes). Luke gives up his stunt job to live in the area and help provide and care for his child, which Romina does not want as she is with another man, Kofi. Luke meets Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), an auto-repair shop owner and works part-time for him but soon Luke and Robin partner together in carrying out hits on banks in the area. Following this, rookie cop Avery is introduced along with corrupt officer Deluca, Avery’s son and Luke’s son when they are older along with other supporting characters. 

There’s not much more that can be said without giving too much away but as you can probably tell from the above synopsis, there’s a lot that goes on. 

The trouble with TPBTP is that it never quite feels like there’s a single narrative to follow and some scenes you can’t be sure if they’re significant or just there for progression. For example, there’s a whole chapter involving Avery and Deluca which seemed, compared to the rest of the film, fairly meaningless and it detracted away from the overriding message that Cianfrance is trying to get across. There are a number of occurrences of this throughout the film which can leave you feeling a bit underwhelmed and you might think, ‘I wonder what happened to these characters’ or ‘So how did this happen’ and so on. 

It can all feel a bit episodic and although the message you’re left with is thought provoking and sticks with you as you try to digest the film, your head can feel a bit bloated, like you’ve received too much information in a short space of time.

TPBTP is split into three different acts. Act 1 is absolutely brilliant, Act 2 is good and Act 3 ok; that is the main problem with TPBTP. Because the first act really is so strong, you find yourself feeling more and more disappointed as the film progresses and never quite achieves the highs of what preceded.

In Act 1, there are some absolutely terrific scenes which are at times funny, emotional and intense. Luke and Robin are a strong pairing and just work so well together in the film. Their scenes are easily the most intense, most engaging and most exciting. Although Gosling is playing pretty much the same character he played in ‘Drive’, he plays it well and you don’t really think of him as ‘The Driver’.

Act 2 and 3 go into territories where everything becomes more predictable and coincidental which contributes to losing focus on the main message of the film. Why is this? Because the more coincidental it becomes, the less believable it becomes. It’s lazy storytelling. On top of this, the characters of Jason and AJ aren’t very likeable and their decisions and actions are questionable. 

Despite the flaws TPBTP has, it’s interesting and engaging and it will be on your mind for a lot more than just a couple of hours after you leave the cinema which is a positive aspect and something that Cainfrance would have wanted to achieve. On top of this, the cinematography really is terrific and in particular the opening scene. Due to this, the film deserves extra credit as you will go to the cinema this year and see films you enjoy, but don’t stick in your mind. TPBTP can be frustrating at times, but it sticks in your memory for the right reasons and that’s what counts. Although Cainfrance’s ambition doesn’t quite come off, it should not be discouraged. 

 

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