The Place Beyond The Pines

The Place Beyond The Pines, the latest movie from Derek Cianfrance is a movie the likes of which you don't see coming. It's a subtle slight of hand film that catches you off guard and just when you regain your footing, it switches up on you again. It's a touching movie about fatherly love, sacrifice, and devotion and it's both well written and superbly acted. Because of that, I give The Place Beyond The Pines three and a half buckets of Killer Korn.



The Place Beyond The Pines is really three movies and they star some of the biggest names in Hollywood today, Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper. In the first movie, Ryan Gosling plays Luke and Bradley plays Avery, Luke is a drifter, a carnival motorcyclist that moves from town to town with the carnival. He provides the crowds with thrills as he and two other men navigate their way around a metal cage in the shape of a ball without slamming into each other. Avery is a rookie police officer in Schenectady NY who's father is a State Supreme Court Justice. One day at the carnival a young lady by the name of Romina, played surprisingly well by Eva Mendes shows up. The previous year the two of them had a fling and then Luke left town and never called her again. He takes her home and gets a kiss on the cheek for his generosity. He comes back the next day to see her again and Romina's mother answers the door holding his son. Luke promptly changes his life and decides to stick around.

In order to provide for his son Luke decides to start robbing banks and after a few successful robberies wants to keep it going. His partner Robin, played by Ben Mendelsohn says he's out and then destroys Luke's getaway bike. Luke gets another bike which is nowhere as good as his old one and gets cornered in a house. That's when he and Avery meet and movie number two begins. Gunshots are exchanged and the lying and shady moves ensue. Avery, the clean rookie cop who wants nothing to do with the shadiness and corruption of the Schenectady police does the unthinkable for a cop and becomes the Asst. District Attorney. Flash forward fifteen years and movie number three begins.

Luke's son Jason, played by the brooding Dane DeHaan and Avery's son AJ, played by Emory Cohen meet. AJ moves in with his father years after his parents divorce and he's a kid out of control. Jason grows up a loner and the two kids click almost instantly but that's a short lived friendship when Jason finds out what really happened to his father and the man responsible is AJ's dad. It's here when you think you know what's coming, that you can see it clear as day is when the movie pulls the rug right from under your feet. It's a daring move because the payoff you think is coming could lose the audience when it doesn't happen, the one we do get though is nothing short of brilliant.

The Place Beyond the Pines isn't amazing, it isn't the best movie of the year, and it's not going to blow your mind. The Place Beyond The Pines is simply a very good and solid movie that explains how almost every little decision we make impacts not just us but so many others during the life we lead. Some of those affected people we know and so many are people we don't even know exist. It's scored beautifully by Mike Patton and shot inventively by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt and I highly recommend it. Now honestly, I had no desire to see this film but I'm glad I relented and saw it, you will be too, trust me and I'll see you at the theater.