The place beyond the pines Review

The Place Beyond The Pines is a film that seems to build progressively as we advance in the story. The film has the aesthetic of a documentary, but the action scenes are exceptional and are not ruined by this bias. It also built his characters in this sense, Derek Cianfrance wanted to transform Ryan Gosling into a tattooed bad boy, It also built his characters in this sense, Derek Cianfrance wanted to transform into Ryan Gosling tattooed bad boywhile allowing him the taciturn side that is not without reminding us of the character he plays in Nicolas Winding Refn's:Drive.

The film divided into three parts (three lives) perfectly exploits the relationship they hold between them. And when Luke (Ryan Gosling) stuntman now bank robber to support his family is killed (almost) in cold blood by Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), the latter taking his life but above all his story and his place in the film; such a man from nowhere that overthrows a sovereign, he operates a real "coup d'état".
Spectators are identified Luke, the first character, certainly by compassion. His replacement by Cross is difficult to accept, the transition being made by his murder. And consequently the abandonment of the son of Luke. The key of the film is obvious (perhaps too much), the dark secret around Luke and that fateful day. First for Romina (Eva Mendes) who promised to Luke never to reveal their son who he really was, what Jason learns, perhaps at the cost of his mother. There is also the secret of Luke, Avery Cross will use in his quest for progression in the police hierarchy, making increasingly faced with corruption, easier way to get what he wants.

So here we are facing a new key theme of the film, the figure of rotten cop hangs over each of policemen. The second half of the film is ryhtmée by methods outside-the-law, dirty tricks and corruption.
Avery Cross is constantly under pressure from his unconfessed fault first and then by his colleagues, he will not hesitate to denounce them to satisfy his ambition. A petty game sets in, which is the most evil, the answer is Cross, liar, manipulative and opportunistic at any occasion. Like in many black films, so it is about gangsters against rotten cops and often gangsters who overcome as heroes. The Place Beyond The Pines against all expectations does not break this rule.

The Place Beyond The Pines thus spreads three lives by placing them under the topics of revenge, ambition and succession, recurrent themes of black films. It is certainly Robin Van Der Zee (Ben Mendelsohn) that creates the better failover in the gangster film genre, like the old bank robber who wants to do it again. His plan is original and looks flawless, until he wants to stop and this time Luke does not agree, the vicious circle, greed won.

Therefore the strongest sequence of the film is that of the high speed chase taking all its promises halfway between realism and spectacular. Plans inside the car are reminiscent of pursuits in documentaries, motorcycle stunts join the hothead side of Luke and his troop of traveling show that he left. And that's when Luke seeks refuge in the house, Cross intervenes and shoots the first that the story switches, Luke is literally erased and it is Jason who will perpetuate his memory.

The confrontation between Luke and Avery Cross therefore occurs first by the merger of their respective offspring namely Jason and AJ (Emory Cohen). At first sight, it is also AJ to his father. It represents the stereotype of rebel cop son, who does not accept the intervention in their lives of the son of Luke. Cross could get rid of Jason  soon as possible but it is not a criminal, even if he killed once, he is not able here. On the other side, Jason fills with hate seems to be ready to eliminate anyone, it is the accentuated psychology of his father.

All these characters highlighted by the story should transform the film into a true masterpiece. Nevertheless something is missing, or rather there is something too much; it is the black spot that makes us appreciate not entirely the work that we see. I do not however recommend seeing this film, but I see that at some point he ran out of steam leaving a good thirty minutes too much. And regularly we fall into the clichés, in a film that is far to use them to denounce them to the image in Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers. Thus we can see that the luxury cast comforts and supports the film when it dives into the "clear", "deja vu" in an original story yet.

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

140 min  |  Crime, Drama, Romance  

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Writers: Derek Cianfrance (story), Ben Coccio (story)

Stars: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes