Following the success of 2010’s Blue Valentine, director
Derek Cianfrance has taken a three year break in recovery before deciding to
direct and release The Place Beyond the Pines, a story very dissimilar to that
of his previous romantic hit. With Ryan Gosling returning in the leading role,
Cianfrance shows to continue his notable poetic style of storytelling but
seemingly forgets to mould the finished product leaving a cumbersome conclusion
of a plethora of loose themes.
With a confident and
ambitious story at the helm, The Place Beyond the Pines does little to prove
its worth juggling too many balls that all inevitably come tumbling down. The
film follows Luke (Gosling) a motorcycle stunt rider who soon turns to robbing
banks to provide support for his new born child, this choice puts him on a
collision course with rookie cop Avery (Cooper), whose actions cause
repercussions for the following story to unfold. Being very much the chronicle
of protagonist Luke’s life the film is almost innately an epic drama that is
undoubtedly let down by a totally underwhelming second act that does little to
relate to the previous story; acting as a divided sub-plot that was totally
unnecessary. The story was ambitious and engaging prior to this act however as
further characters are introduced with further sub-plots, you find yourself
being detracted from the quality story at hand in order to be diverted to a
plot boasting very little but which holds frustrating importance to the
proceeding act which proves to be just as devoid of emotion.
With actors of
excellent quality helming the lead and supporting roles, this proves to be the
films saving grace always providing realistic performances that are believable
throughout. The protagonist Luke, despite being largely dislikeable with few
relatable qualities, is acted with brilliant enthusiasm and flair by the increasingly
impressive Ryan Gosling. Clouding his
performance however is arguably the supporting performance of Ben Mendelsohn
whom despite having a relatively small role acts with e
vident passion that aids
his character, Robin, to become immediately involved within the story as new
found friend of Luke. Both these characters being engrossing and interesting
are prominent mostly in the first act making it by far the best of the
well-defined three which could’ve stood alone (with some added tweaks) as a
fantastic 90 minute drama. However as the film progresses holes appear and plot
points are left untied to the frustration of the audience who simply want to
revisit the simplicity and enjoyment of the first act.
Starting
fantastically the film fizzles out to a small, yet still respectable; third act
which is as unnecessary as it is cumbersome. Boasting humongous talent and a
magnificently ambitious story, this film could’ve been so much more impressive
but instead decides to confuse itself by trying to do too much and ending up
doing very little at all.
7/10- Performances are fantastic but the threadbare plot
provides a heavy burden.
Calum Russell
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