The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)'s comments

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sammysin

This one turned out totally different to what I was expecting.

There is a pivotal moment almost half way in that will make you really surprised.

It's a very well done character study. The characters are all great to watch develop and you feel for them, be it in a good or bad way.

The movie ended with absolute class for me. I recommend it to anyone that wants to see a family thriller.

Gosling and Cooper are at their finest here.

10 years 9 months ago

Jinkla

Fatherhood and loyalty to your blood are themes that hit me really hard for some indiscernible reason. The film is set into three parts, all relating to the important role of fatherhood to your sons identity.
A strong trope that interests me is sociopathy, and to see Avery's lack of love manifest itself into AJ's sociopathy in part three, really hurt to watch.
I find this film beautiful and it remains my favourite film of 2013.
9/10

10 years 4 months ago

randystaat

Fantastic, haunting, characters that will stay with you for days after leaving the cinema. An interesting structure that worked for me but won't for others. A story about fathers, sons, the decisions we make in life and their impact on further generations. The best film I've seen so far this year.

11 years ago

Scratch47

Far from immediate, this work simmers with a low-key, meditative energy and deliberate, weaving themes that leave enough breathing room to gradually reel the audience in. It's astute cinema in the grand American tradition, containing explorations of 'corruption in the name of family' going right to the core of every major moment and consequence, and it earns the right to change up gears not once but twice during its three acts - once during a startling shot that serves as both a mirror and transfer of power and focus to another character. Acting wise, it's very good - Gosling's steely eyes burn right through the screen as usual, and Cooper continues a noteworthy streak off the back of 'Silver Linings Playbook'.. I would have perhaps cut 20 minutes as it's a little too meandering at its' bookends, perhaps a little too unfocused in its ambition, but in another sense that entails a more naturalistic and believable mood, leading to a cerebral rapport with this viewer, also with some lovely cinematography to round out the frame. Recommended.

10 years 11 months ago

Pxntus

Emotional and gripping... It is one of my favorite movies and definitely the movie that got the most attention from me in 2013.

3 years 5 months ago

Kenneth McMahon

Entertaining but a couple of the characterisations didn't ring true for me...

spoiler

8 years 5 months ago

TalkingElvish

Ambitious but focusing on the minutae of father-son relationships and the corruption that love and brotherhood engenders. The acting is peerless throughout, though some characters are more likeable than others (Mendehlson's performance stood out for me). Even when you can see story turns coming, there it's hard not to welcome them, as it feels we're watching a great director make another step. Like Blue Valentine there is a vaunting vision at work that stumbles only because it's so ambitious.

10 years 11 months ago

dombrewer

Much of the criticism I've read of Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to the exceptional "Blue Valentine" concentrates on the sprawling nature of the plot and the sense that there is too much for one film to hold. I think that is a slightly narrow minded perspective - it's true that the defined three act structure is a surprise and is unexpected given that the trailer smartly only concentrated on the opening third, but that's not to say the whole doesn't tie together brilliantly in retrospect. My concerns about where the film was headed while watching it were dampened down when considering how the bigger picture would present itself afterwards, and an impressive picture it is.

There's no doubt the strongest part of the film is the first third, thanks to Ryan Gosling's effortlessly charismatic, unpredictable turn as "Handsome" Luke, a stunt bike rider who belatedly discovers he is a father and in the process of trying to provide for his baby son falls into a life of crime. Through the influence of mechanic Robin (Ben Mendelsohn in yet another pitch perfect, twitchy, greasy turn that he has recently cornered the market in) he ends up using his bike to rob banks. The robberies are absolutely thrilling - unexpectedly so coming from Cianfrance who had previously shown no hint of high octane sequences like the ones we see here. In many ways Gosling's performance and Cianfrance's direction out-do Nicholas Winding Refn's "Drive", with which it shares some marked similarities, only here Luke is a multi-dimensional character and one who has a good reason to behave the way he does rather than just look moody and detached.
The second section concentrating on Bradley Cooper's cop Avery is probably the weakest part concentrating on the aftermath of Luke's final robbery and the police corruption that is uncovered because of it - Cooper is very good as the guilt ridden "hero" turned whistleblower, but the shift from Gosling's magnetic performance is a hard one to follow and he is missed. Eva Mendes is strong through all three sections, and is at her best here, while Ray Liotta provides reptilian menace to his small role as a particularly unsavoury fellow officer. The final part concentrates on the two men's sons - Jason and A.J. now both grown up and struggling to either discover their parent or rebel against their influence. It's clear that inherited traits will come to the surface and things won't end well. Emory Cohen gives the weakest performance in the cast as the wayward son of Avery's cop turned politician, which unfortunately veers firmly into the irritating, but Dane DeHann (similarly tortured in the excellent "Chronicle") really motors the film toward its conclusion as his Jason gradually pieces together the events of the past.

This wildly ambitious, multi-stranded character study is ultimately most concerned with fathers and sons, actions and their repercussions - what may appear unwieldy on a first view does pay off patience and attention as details repeat and themes resolve. It's brave film-making and well worth seeing from a director forging an exceptional career.

11 years ago

CorPse

No lists? I find that amazing and disappointing. I'm still thinking about this film 10 years later.

1 month 1 week ago

Emiam

6+/10
Good but a bit overrated.

2 years 2 months ago

Earring72

Overlong and familiair but engrossing 3part drama

6 years 1 month ago

Jontaquestion

Didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasently surprised. Actors, good. Script, good. Expression, good. Bradley Cooper shows (again) that he's more than a funnyman, he's strong in this one. Personally, I dont fancy Ryan Gosling, but that doesn't affect the movie. 5/6.

8 years 11 months ago