The Place Beyond The Pines
(2013 - March 29)
Crime
|
Drama
2 hr. 20 min.
Rated: R Very strong language throughout, some graphic violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and sexuality. Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Read more (I personally would not subject a 16 year old to this film)
Grade: B+
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Writers: Derek Cianfrance,
Ben Coccio,
Darius Marder
Stars: Ryan Gosling,
Bradley Cooper,
Eva Mendes |
See full cast and crew
The highly anticipated new drama from director Derek Cianfrance ("Blue
Valentine") powerfully explores the consequences of motorcycle rider
Luke's (Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling) fateful decision to commit a
crime to support his child. The incident renders him targeted by
policeman Avery (Golden Globe Award nominee Bradley Cooper), and the two
men become locked on a tense collision course which will have a
devastating impact on both of their families in the years following.
(c)
Focus
Budget: $15 Million
Box Office: $6,725,100 (Worldwide as of 18 April, 2013). Critics have praised the film as have the audiences that have seen it. It just hasn't been seen by that may people, toned down language probably would have generated a larger audience and box office.
Watching The Place Beyond The Pines is not a pleasant experience and it most definitely isn't for everyone. The characters for the most part are not sympathetic or at all admirable, portraying one failed life after another. There is, however, a little something about Ryan Gosling's screen presence as Luke that draws you in and makes empathize, encourages you to root for him to succeed, to changing his life, there is something compelling, something attractive about this looser, like there's a 'boy next door' just under the surface that is still reachable. His performance in this film is perhaps the best of his career, but 99% of the characters in this film, and that includes Luke, are simply conscience and 'moral-free'.
The language is extremely coarse and onerous, and reflective of the baseless lives of the characters portrayed but I thinks there are ways to express that point without lying down in that very same gutter. Without the profanity the film could have reached a much broader audience, and consequently earned a much bigger box office.
Life in this town is depressing, rudderless and seemingly void of hope. I really was not looking forward to seeing The Place Beyond The Pines.
I don't think pleasantly surprised would be the appropriate term but I
was in deed surprised by how intriguing the film was. It's a bit like
an accident...you don't really want to see the carnage but once you get a
glimpse it's hard to look away. These people are the ones that your
parents warned you as a child to steer clear of. They are products of the failed post 50s
educational system that threw God and morals under the bus in pursuit of
the so called, modern, enlightened, secular humanism and a pagan mythological Gaia
centric environmentalism. In short, these people are troubled, aimless and Godless, their human misery is none the less tragic and compelling.
The Place Beyond The Pines
is a three act story of how a bad decision can destroy your life and the
devastating impact it can have on all of those around you, the Domino
effect, a story of how the sins of the fathers will be visited upon
their
children. It is gritty and harsh, in some aspects like last year's People Like Us,
the difference between the two is that this time the acting is up to
the task. The performances by Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper are truly
first rate.
Act I revolves around Luke the Ryan Gosling character and his life choices; Act II focuses on Avery the Bradley Cooper character an his life choices; and Act III reaping the fruit of these two trees, lays bare the lives of the sons of these two men.
I recommend it with reservations: The performances are excellent and it is well made storytelling, if you want to take a peek into the belly of
the beast, but it is harsh, gritty and you are subjected to lots of F words. Act I is filled with profanity, anger, violence and futility; Act II is filled with corruption with a slight reprieve from the language, violence, betrayal and futility; Act III returns to the profanity and wallows in teen angst, drugs, drinking, sexuality, hatred, revenge and futility.
If you don't think you can sit through the language (something I hate, one of my movie pet peeves) you will probably want to pass on this one.
The Story: Luke Glanton (Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling)
is a motorcycle stunt rider they call Heart Throb. On his motorcycle it
says 'Handsome Luke' but his good looks are marred by cheap, tacky,
tasteless tattoos, the epitome of 'white trash'. He's a
high-octane motorcycle stunt performer, in constant motion, traveling from town to town with
the carnival. While passing through upstate New York, he tries
to reconnect with a former lover in Schenectady, Romina (Eva Mendes). He is surprised to learn
that in his two year absence she has given birth to his son Jason (Dane DeHaan).
Luke decides to quit the carnival and forsake life on the road in order
to become a stand-up dad and provide for his new found
family, of course it doesn't matter to Luke that Romina has a new man in
her life, Kofi (Mahershala Ali),
who is raising Jason as his own.
Luke turns to Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), an auto repair shop owner, for part-time
employment as he continuously attempts to insert himself into his son’s
life but minimum wage doesn't cut it, Luke asks Robin for more money. Robin says there is a way, he reveals that he was once a bank robber, and suggests they partner to hit some banks in the area. The team
perform some successful heists, in which Luke performs the
robbery, uses his motorbike to getaway and drives it into
an unmarked truck driven by Robin. Luke uses the new money to win
back Romina’s trust and visits her, her mother and his infant son at the home of Romina’s new
partner, Kofi. Kofi’s end up having a confrontation which results in Luke’s arrest for assault after he
hits Kofi in the head with a wrench.
Robin bails him out of jail and Luke immediately wants to
resume robbing banks. Robin refuses, not wanting to press their
luck, and the two have a falling-out that results in Robin dismantling
the motorbike to put an end to it. Luke takes back the bail money he owed Robin at
gunpoint. Luke attempts to rob another bank on his own but that decision puts him on a
collision course with Officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper). Luke is pursued by
police falls off his bike during the chase and seeks refuge in a nearby home, Averys follows him into the house and Luke realizes he is trapped,
sensing defeat, he locks himself in a bedroom upstairs and calls Romina. Just before Avery confronts him, Luke asks Romina not to tell their child about
who he was.
In Act 2 the narrative switches to Avery Cross an ambitious rookie cop navigating a department ruled by the menacing and corrupt detective Deluca (Ray Liotta).
Avery is just starting to balance his professional and family life with
wife Jennifer (Rose Byrne) and their infant son AJ (Emory Cohen), when fate forced him into the confrontation with Luke, the
full consequences of this meeting will reverberate into the next generation. It is then, in the final Act,
that the two sons, Jason and AJ, will face
their fateful, shared legacy inherited from their fathers.
Behind the scenes on the set.
Cast
Luke Glanton Avery Cross
Romina Kofi Jason
Jennifer A J
Robin Deluca
Insidious Chapter 2
Two years ago Insidious (2011) racked up a slew of positive reviews to the surprise of most everyone and on its way to a $13.3 million box office for its opening weekend. The film then showed staying power when it lasted an impressive five months in the theaters earning a total box office of $97 million world wide, pretty remarkable for a film produced on a skant $1.5 million budget! 2011’s Insidious absolutely earned its sequel and Insidious Chapter 2 jumps right in where the first film left off. 
If you havent seen Insidious, I think you will find Insidious Chapter 2 a bit confusing or at best, somewhat hard to follow. It's been a couple of years and even though I liked Insidious I didn't remember the story all that well and consequently it took some work to remember what was going on with the family. Especially since we just recently saw Patrick Wilson in another James Wan film, The Conjering, (which is still in its first run at the theaters) and it can be easy to fuse the elements of the two films.) Perhaps it would be a good idea to rent Insidious and refresh your memory before you go to see Insidious Chapter 2.
Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) has just returned from 'The Further', the spirit world, with his astral projecting son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), and the family believe that they no longer run the risk of losing another Lambert to the spirit world. The family has now temporarily relocated to grandma’s (Barbara Hershey) house, Josh’s mother, but almost immediately after they arrive the bumps in the night, the eerie baby monitor noises and shadowy figures start returning and it has become very apparent that Josh didn’t return from 'The Further' alone.
I don't think that this sequel is as quite as good as the original installment, part of that is due to the surprising twists of the first film that are no longer so much of a surprise in the sequel. Yes, it still has some goosebump raising moments, some very creepy scenes and some gotcha scares but the novel surprise elements from the first film have lost a little of their edge. Incidentally, Insidious 3 in on the way.
