Review of The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) by Nesbitt10 — 04 Sep 2013

"The Place Beyond the Pines" is a highly ambitious melodrama, delivered on an epic scale involving multiple characters that boasts an engrossing cinematic atmosphere, with an impassioned emphasis on humanistic elements. Director Derek Cianfrance has crafted a sweeping three-act story with considerable skill that follows a chronological structure where each narrative rarely intersects. It has the scope and depth of a novel, and puts its trust in the audience to have the patience.

The first story, and unquestionably the strongest, is about Luke (Ryan Gosling), a stunt-bike rider who learns that he has a son by one of his ex-lovers, Romina (Eva Mendes). Ready to man up, he decides to swap his life riding the "Cage of Death" at local fairs to spend time with his new-found family. Problem is, Luke doesn't have the money. It doesn't take much for his new boss and drinking pal Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), to convince him that they are better off robbing banks, while utilizing Luke’s motorcycle skills to evade police. But soon Luke gets greedy, and a robbery goes terribly wrong. In a split second, the focus completely shifts to a seemingly mild-minded street cop named Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), who has his own agenda and story and yet his life and Luke’s become inevitably entwined.

The second story follows Avery, and the mood and tone of his narrative is distinctly different from Luke’s. However, his inner turmoil is equally compelling however for different reasons. Avery also has a son AJ (Emory Cohen), but his eventual political aspirations keep him from being a caring and attentive father. Both of these men feel guilty for their failures as fathers and sons, and they both try to correct mistakes with worse ones, setting in motion unintended consequences for the next generation.

Both of these stories culminate into a 15 year fast-forward when the audience then sees how Luke and Avery’s characters have impacted their own children. What's so fascinating about the structure of the film is how the story is not about any one individual character, but collectively how these characters have either been impacted by their father, and/or how they impacted their own son. The narrative uniquely strips away identifying a main character of "Beyond the Pines." Instead, it is the father and son dynamic fleshed out that acts as the central theme to the film.

Mike Patton’s beautiful score and Sean Bobbitt’s mix of claustrophobic, extended shots creates an ambience of a grand spectacle spanning generations, yet selecting only a handful of individuals who we get to know very well, and how their lives intersect. In regards to storytelling alone, "Beyond the Pines" is a formidable endeavor. Unfortunately, due to its ambitious, unconventional approach, it weakens the connected narrative in the third act. Nonetheless, it's impossible to deny its overall overpowering cumulative effect.