'The Place Beyond the Pines' Review

Once again, because the new movie releases don't exactly excite me beyond measure, I was forced this weekend to turn to rentals. So far, even with a few missteps, I've enjoyed my choices tremendously. Having missed The Place Beyond the Pines in theaters, I was particularly excited to see what some have claimed is one of the better films of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed director Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine, so I assumed The Place Beyond the Pines would be of the same caliber - or better.

It's not. I'll go ahead and tell you right now that I much prefer Blue Valentine to The Place Beyond the Pines, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Pines is a bad film - far from it, actually. It's an incredibly ambitious movie, sweeping in scope and absolutely beautiful. Director Derek Cianfrance readily admits that his ambitions with The Place Beyond the Pines were lofty, adding that as an artist, it is "...important that you push your own boundaries."

That he did. I can't say enough about the way this movie looks. If you're into the visuals, see it. Be aware going in, though, that there are many imperfections to be had. Even with that, I continued to marvel at the cinematography throughout The Place Beyond the Pines, and I'll argue with anyone that it's epic in that respect.

The acting in The Place Beyond the Pines is truly outstanding. Every single cast member, from Ryan Gosling to Eva Mendes to Bradley Cooper to Ray Liotta give top notch acting performances in this film. Props as well to Rose Byrne and especially to Ben Mendelsohn, an actor I had to look up after seeing the movie. He's actually been in several movies I've seen but until now he's just been "that guy" - the one I think "wow he's good, what's his name?" and then I forget to look him up. Remember the name Ben Mendelsohn, because he blew me away in Pines and I suspect he'll blow me away in other movies yet to come.

As for the plot of The Place Beyond the Pines, well, this is where things get a little discombobulated. Essentially, this film is divided into three separate vignettes. The first two worked extremely well for me - but by the third, I was noticing the time and thinking that the film was just a bit too long. I get what Derek Cianfrance was going for, but it didn't completely work for me. Things jump a bit off the rails about midway through the film, and they start to spiral towards the end.

In The Place Beyond the Pines, Ryan Gosling is Luke Glanton: a wild, troubled, sometimes violent man who works as a motorcycle stuntman with a traveling carnival. He fathers a child with a waitress, Romina (Eva Mendes). In a desperate attempt to provide for his son, Luke takes to robbing banks with a mechanic/mentor, Robin (Ben Mendelsohn). His run in with rookie cop Avery Cross proves fateful in many ways. At the risk of giving too much away, I'll leave it at that - but once you see the film, you'll understand.

At its heart, The Place Beyond the Pines is a sweeping drama about fathers and sons. It's heartbreaking in many ways, and I have to say I was pretty emotionally drained after watching it. Pines, as I mentioned earlier, is long (2 hours, 21 minutes), so it's possible I was simply too wrung out during the last third of the movie to connect with the characters. Maybe I just missed Ryan Gosling, or maybe we didn't really need the final third of the film at all. You be the judge: I do recommend The Place Beyond the Pines, so you can decide for yourself.

Is this Derek Cianfrance's best film? No, that's still Blue Valentine, in my opinion. I've seen it once, and it so deeply affected me that I am still thinking about it years later. I'm not sure if I can ever watch it again, it was so gut wrenching. But The Place Beyond the Pines is a decent film, and the cinematography is stunning.

I can't wait to see what director Derek Cianfrance does next, but I'm glad for down time so I can recover from this latest heavy blow.

Photos courtesy of Paste Magazine, WhatCulture.com and DigitalSpy.com