Exploring "The Place Beyond the Pines"

I think it's wise to say right up front that "The Place Beyond the Pines" is not a typical action movie. There's quite a bit of action in it, including bank robberies, chase scenes, shootouts, kidnappings, and violent fights. However, the director is Derek Cianfrance, whose last film was the troubled love story, "Blue Valentine." "The Place Beyond the Pines" is similarly concerned with relationships, this time between fathers and sons. The film is a triptych of three different connected stories that look at how these characters and relationships impact each other over time.

The first story is about a stunt motorcycle rider named Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling), who comes to town with a traveling carnival, and meets a woman he had a brief fling with the year before, Romina (Eva Mendes). Luke discovers that Romina had his son, Jason, and forms such a strong attachment to the baby that he stays in town, determined to be part of the boy's life, even though Romina is involved with another man, Kofi (Mahershala Ali). The second story is about a policeman, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), with a wife, Jennifer (Rose Byrne) and a baby boy, AJ, at home. Avery is labeled a hero after foiling a dramatic crime, but this becomes the catalyst for problems at work, including his discovery of corruption within his department. The final story is about what happens to the two boys, Jason (Dane DeHaan) and AJ (Emory Cohen), many years later when they're teenagers.

Far and away the best segment of the film is the first one, with Ryan Gosling. Luke Glanton is a fascinating character, a carefree drifter who suddenly discovers he has the possibility of a family, something he's wiling to fight for. Unfortunately, how he decides to fight for Romina and his son reveals his tragic flaws. There are many similarities between Luke Glanton and Dean Pereira, the male lead of "Blue Valentine." Both want similar things and both have difficult natures that impede their attempts to do the right thing. However, the criminal tactics that Glanton employs are far more destructive and dangerous. This also makes his story far more exciting to watch. The movie becomes a full-blown crime drama by the half hour mark, with a series of escalating action sequences that are as good as anything in a typical genre film.

I can't help wishing that Luke Glanton's story had been expanded to full feature length, but Cianfrance clearly had greater ambitions for the movie. The second and third segments of the film go off in completely different directions, and never quite manage to recapture the thrill of the first. They're both very competently written, and the actors deliver good performances, but they can't help but feel like a step in quality down regardless. Avery Cross is a weaker protagonist, and the teenagers even moreso, though Cianfrance does a good job of keeping them engaging and setting up interesting moral dilemmas. I like the expansive scope of the film, the subtle religious themes, and the ending worked fine for me, but the narrative does end up feeling terribly front-loaded. What's particularly odd is that the few action scenes that do take place in the second and third segments are noticeably poorer than the ones we saw in the first.

It's the actors who are the main event, and there are quite a few performances I should address. I've become more appreciative of Bradley Cooper's work over the years, and he's solid but unremarkable here, in a solid but unremarkable part. Dane DeHaan plays exactly the kind of awkward teenage boy that he's become synonymous with, and offers few surprises. Rose Byrne doesn't get nearly enough to do or the time to make a good impression, but Eva Mendes gets some nice scenes to show her undervalued acting chops. I've rarely liked her in other films before this. Also, I want to single out Ben Mendelsohn for praise, playing an affably grungy mechanic named Robin, who becomes friend and employer to Luke Glanton. He's probably onscreen half the time that Bradley Cooper is, and gets across about ten times the character.

I also appreciate that Cianfrance tries to give us a picture of the upstate New York community that these characters exist in. There are some interesting repeated shots and significant time spent showing us the different environments the boys grew up in. There are also some interesting social messages about race and class and privilege to be teased out for those who feel like digging in a little deeper into the film. As for me, I feel satisfied with one viewing for the moment. "The Place Beyond the Pines" is ultimately uneven, but It's another very strong effort from a director who is quickly growing into a name to watch out for.
---