Review of The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) by Erik R — 12 Jan 2014

I don't mind admitting that I'm a little disappointed with my film watching this weekend. I saw Danny Boyle's Trance and now this, both films I thought would be excellent, but which ended up simply being mediocre and for largely the same reason: I couldn't give two fucks about any of the main characters in either film.

Both Gosling and Cooper's characters are bland, flat stereotypes. On the surface, sure, Gosling's character Luke with his dashing good looks, his tattoos, his Drive-style silent tough-guy with a heart of gold routine, yeah seems like he might be interesting. But that's all there is: he might have the looks of an outlaw but he doesn't have the attitude, the edge, the singularity of personality that makes outlaws such compelling characters. You never get a strong sense of what made this guy who he is (just a single throw away line), never really understand what makes him tick. All we really get is that he wants to provide for his son, which seems to rely on the assumption that all fathers everywhere automatically want to provide for their sons, despite the fact that every single one of us knows that's simply and sadly not true.

The real problem of the film is that its split up into three distinct parts: one which follows Luke (Gosling), one which follows Avery Cross (Cooper), and one which follows their sons. It's a long film but because of this split, we never get to spend enough time with any one character to truly appreciate them, to begin to root for em.

But of course that's not the only problem. Ostensibly this is a film about fathers and sons and what fathers give, or withhold, from their sons and how that changes them. But you know, we never see any father-son interaction, aside from Bradley Cooper's character with his own father. There's really no dynamic or conflict ever developed between any father and son (amusingly, Cooper and De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook had a vastly superior father-son dynamic and that was only a subplot). So I kept asking myself, what is this film about? I mean, really, what is the theme, the point, the thrust, the core, the heart? I'm not sure I can answer. It kept changing, it couldn't make up its mind. There's some father-son stuff in there, sure; there's some good-and-evil isn't always black-and-white stuff; there's some crime drama stuff; but honestly, there's this disconnect between the film's heart and the film's conflict. The heart, I think, was meant to be the father-son, but none of the conflict comes from that because father and son never interact. Instead it comes from crime drama stuff. And that's a problem. It's a problem when your heart and your conflict don't mesh.

Also, just as an aside, Avery's son AJ was the most annoying son of a bitch character I've seen in a long time. Every time he opened his mouth, I kept thinking he was the same type asshole who sexually assaulted fifteen year old girls then cyber bullied them until they hanged themselves. Seriously? No redeeming qualities whatsoever. Who thought it was a good idea to write his character like that? Especially since it is completely unbelievable that his character could result from either of his parents.

Final Say: While I didn't hate this film, I genuinely cannot come up with any reason to like it. I've actually been scouring tumblr and other websites. I've seen plenty of the expected, "This is the greatest movie ever!" But also as usual, the reason for this greatness isn't mentioned. Scout's honor, my favorite part of this film? That single theme in the soundtrack, the place beyond the pines theme, which is undoubtedly wonderful. Everything else? Meh.

How to Watch It: "Fuck objectivity, just open yourself up right as the production card appears on screen and let your feelings be manipulated as they might without giving a second thought that there might be something you'll find less than perfect if only you watched the movie with an analytical mind.

Nope, just let your emotions be your guide and try to identify with anything that remotely reminds you of yourself or your life. 10 out of 10 movie experience every time guaranteed.".

-Sean Barry, fellow film lover.

Trivia: The writers rewrote this script something like 37 times. I think they understood the flaws, but they had already committed to a certain structure, to a certain idea, and so were trapped in their flawed vision.