The Place Beyond the Pines

The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

The Place Beyond the Pines was what I thought looked like Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive only with a motorcycle, but I was pleasantly surprised when the story unfolded into a three part modern father-son tale. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Luke Glanton, a motorcycle stunt rider who learns that he has a new born son and Bradley Cooper as Avery Cross, a police officer who takes Gosling’s place as protagonist in the film’s second part.

The film’s strongest part is its characters. While the relationship between Cross and Glanton is short lived and underdeveloped, the relations with each men with their sons and later the two sons is hugely parallel. The three segments (Glanton’s story, Cross’ story, and their sons’ story) are all entertaining, but felt like there was too much crammed into each segment despite the 140 minute running time. I would have wanted the each person’s tale to be more fleshed out even if that meant bordering three hours. The cinematography in the film was beautifully shot, with director Derek Cianfrance choosing a lot of nature shots and using the landscape to his advantage.

Cianfrance, who had earlier directed Gosling in 2010’s Blue Valentine, chose to use a lot of symbolism and parallelism in Pines. Three separate occasions in the film showed Cooper’s character climbing a flight of stairs to only to discover something that will change the course of the movie. Overall, The Place Beyond the Pines was an example of the struggles of young manhood and what I would easily consider one of this year's best pictures.