The Place Beyond the Pines

Plot synopsis:
In 1997, Luke Glanton (Gosling) is a locally well-known motorcycle stuntman working in a traveling act for state fairs. During a fair in Schenectady, New York, Luke reunites with his ex-lover Romina Gutierrez (Mendes) and drives her home. He asks her out on a date, but she declines, as she has become involved with another man named Kofi Kancam (Ali). Luke later discovers that Romina has a baby son that he fathered. Luke does not want their son to grow up without knowing who his father was, as he himself suffered the same fate. Luke quits his job to support Romina and their son, but Romina is reluctant to have him in their son's life. He turns to a local auto repair shop owner, Robin Van Der Hook, for part-time employment as he repeatedly attempts to insert himself into his son's life. Earning little, Luke asks Robin for more money so he can contribute to his son's care.
Robin reveals he was once a bank robber and offers to partner with Luke in hitting several local banks. They perform a few successful heists, in which Luke performs the robbery then uses his motorbike as a getaway vehicle and hides it in a truck driven by Robin. Luke uses his share of the money to win back Romina's trust and visits her and his son more often. Kofi objects to Luke's presence and the two get into a fight at Kofi's house, resulting in Luke's arrest after he hits Kofi in the head with a pipe wrench. Romina files a restraining order against Luke, vowing that he will never see his son again. After Robin bails him out of jail, Luke insists on resuming their bank robberies. Robin objects, not wanting to press their luck, and the two have a falling-out that results in Robin dismantling the motorbike and Luke, at gunpoint, taking back the bail money he had repaid Robin in order to buy a new bike.
Luke attempts to rob a bank alone and is pursued by police. He seeks refuge in a house, chased on foot by rookie police officer Avery Cross (Cooper). Luke retreats until he is cornered upstairs and calls Romina. Just before Avery confronts him, Luke asks Romina not to tell their child about who he was. Avery enters the room and accidentally fires his gun, hitting Luke in the stomach. Luke fires back, hitting Avery in the leg before falling backwards out of the window and dying. Upon being questioned about the shooting, Avery reluctantly states that Luke fired first.
Avery gains hero status in the community after killing Luke, but Avery feels remorse, especially as Avery's fellow officers illegally seize the stolen money from Romina's home and give him the lion's share. He later attempts to return the money to Romina, but she rejects his offer. Avery eventually tries to turn the money in to the chief of police, who rebuffs him, and says he does not want to get involved or see Avery inform on his colleagues. Following the advice of his father, a retired judge, Avery tape records a fellow officer asking him to illegally remove cocaine from the evidence locker Avery is supervising. Avery uses the recording to expose the illegal practices in the police department and pressures the district attorney to hire him-–a law school graduate–- as an assistant district attorney.
Fifteen years later, Avery is running for public office and has to deal with his now-teenage son A. J., who has gotten into trouble with drugs. Avery has separated from his wife Jennifer and agrees to have A. J. move into his home. A. J. transfers into the high school in Schenectady. There, A. J. befriends a boy named Jason Kancam (DeHaan); neither A. J. nor Jason knows that Jason is Luke's son. The two are arrested for felony drug possession, and when Avery is called in to pick up his son, he recognizes Jason's name. He uses his influence to get Jason's charge dropped to a misdemeanor and orders A. J. to stay away from Jason, but the boys continue to talk regularly.
Jason seeks the truth about his biological father, whom Romina refuses to discuss with him. Kofi, who now has a daughter with Romina, finally tells Jason his father's name. Jason discovers Luke's past on the Internet. He visits Robin's auto shop, and Robin tells Jason more about Luke, including his superior motorbiking skills. Robin shows Jason a newspaper article with a photo of his father and the officer who killed him. Back in school, A. J. pressures Jason to steal Oxycontin from a pharmacy and bring it to his house for a party. When he enters the house, Jason sees a framed photograph of Avery and realizes that A. J.'s father is the man who killed his own father. Jason confronts A. J., but the two get into a heated argument and Jason is hospitalized after A. J. beats him. The next morning, Jason buys a gun, breaks into the Cross family home, and beats A. J. with it.
When Avery arrives, Jason takes him hostage and orders him to drive into the woods. Although Jason intends to kill Avery, he reconsiders after Avery breaks down and tearfully apologizes for killing Jason's father. Jason takes Avery's wallet from his jacket and leaves. In the wallet, Jason finds a photo of himself as a baby with his parents, which Avery had stolen from the evidence locker. The police take Avery home, where he finds EMTs treating A. J.'s wounds. Sometime later, Avery wins his bid for New York Attorney General, with A. J. at his side. Jason purchases a motorbike reminiscent of his father's and rides away, destination unknown. Romina receives an envelope addressed to "Mom". Inside is the old photograph of herself with Luke and an infant Jason.

Tags: revenge, psychological, violence

Review:
"The Place Beyond the Pines" is the second feature film with the director/actor pair of Derek Cianfrance and Ryan Gosling.
In this film, they tackle an ambitious, emotional and completely original tale about fathers and sons, sins of the father, generational consequences, and how one moment can send shockwaves lasting a lifetime.The movie is broken into three acts, each as compelling and unpredictable as the one before it.
The only problem here is that the newcomer actors (Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen) don't carry their act as effectively and emotionally as Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper did.The story here is ambitious and succeeds in telling a new and refreshing tale that filmgoers have not seen or experienced on this level of deep sophistication in ages.
That works particularly well with Cooper giving a remarkable performance of Avery constantly coming to grips with his life.The final act tells a story very different from, but completely connected to, the two that came before it.
To talk at all about the films storyline would be to spoil what is really an extraordinary narrative where even the coincidences of the third act seem to me to have resonance of great drama and it is magnificently played by its four principal actors.Ryan Gosling, continuing to cement his reputation as the finest young actor of his generation, is Luke, an outlaw anti-hero worthy to stand beside any played by Dean or Newman.
Bradley Cooper, so much more now that the light comedian of The Hangover movies, is Avery, the idealistic young rookie cop who finds the consequences of a single act of violence leads him down paths he previously may only have dreamed of and relative newcomers Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen are sons in desperate need of a father's love and guidance.This is bold and innovative film-making from Cianfrance with a strong emphasis on plot development.
The three act structure was executed brilliantly and were all tied together in a very satisfying way.The opening tracking shot was absolutely brilliant and did a great job establishing Ryan Gosling's character without any dialogue.
Gosling's character is a joy to watch, the soundtrack is phenomenally executed and the cinematography is so beautiful, not to mention Gosling's partner in crime also manages to give an outstanding performance.The second act focuses on Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), a rookie cop trying to move up the ranks with a family of his own.
It didn't need to be stretched out to achieve some extended purpose sought out by the director.Nevertheless, what we have are two excellent acts and one good one, which, in my opinion, would equate the movie to a "very good" viewing experience (as opposed to "excellent", "extraordinary" or "top of the range").In my final opinion, I would highly recommend this movie for the first two acts alone.PS I might also add that the introduction of Cooper's cop character Avery has to be one of the best introductions ever!
Quite possibly the most ambitious film of the year The Place Beyond The  Pines is about Luke (Gosling), a stunt motorcycle rider performing at a  low-grade carnival.
The final act of the film takes  place 15 years later and focuses on two high school students Jason  (Dane DeHaan) and AJ (Emory Cohen)  Luke and Avery's kids.
Cianfrance reteams with one of that film's stars, Ryan Gosling, for one of The Place Beyond The Pines' three segments that unfolds over a 15 year period with interconnected story lines that mixes elements of crime drama, teenage angst, questions about fate, and the complexities of father-son relationships.The first segment is unquestionably the film's strongest, with Gosling further refining the brooding anti-hero character that seems to have become his stock-in- trade.
His Luke character is introduced in the film's great opening scene that employs an extensive single tracking shot, as the audience views his heavily tattooed body and carnival motorcycle stunt rider profession, which convey Luke's societal fringe elements without saying a word.
Bruce Greenwood is memorable in a small role as a high-ranking cop, while Ray Liotta's minor role as an intimidating, crooked cop feels like the kind of role we've seen from him dozens of times already.Segment three completes The Place Beyond The Pines' downhill slide, focussing on the teenage sons (played by Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen) of Gosling's and Cooper's characters.
Also distracting: a time jump of 15 years reveals Cooper's character and that of his wife (played by Rose Byrne) to have seemingly not aged at all, while Mendes' Romina looks to have aged about 25 years.I respect the fact that Cianfrance took some risks with The Place Beyond The Pines, which had its world premiere at TIFF - he throws in a major plot twist relatively early on and the movie's segmented structure is definitely a gamble and somewhat unconventional, but unfortunately, the loosely connected narrative and performances don't hold together over the course of the film's too-long 140 minute running time.
Having availability this weekend, I decided to dedicate three hours to the appreciation of the Gos. With every scene, Franco's voice echoed in my head as if he was sitting right there whispering the film's narrative into my ear.Despite being a bit long, with an over indulgent mid-section, The Place Beyond The Pines is an enjoyable experience.
It's an exhilarating start to the film and introduces Luke (Gosling) as a heavily tatted star attraction on the carnival circuit.This is director Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to his 2010 critically acclaimed Blue Valentine.
The first segment is mesmerizing and follows Luke's attempt to "do right" by his newly discovered infant son - the result of last year's carnival trip to this same town and a tryst with Romina, a local gal played by Eva Mendes.Gosling is especially effective (yet again) as he falls in with local mechanic played by a terrific Ben Mendelsohn (frightening in Animal Kingdom).
DeHaan especially shines as the Gosling/Mendes prodigy.Sean Bobbitt is the film's Director of Photography and he deserves special mention for his work with Cianfrance in bringing a different and intimate look to the characters, setting and story.
Well the trailer showed promise, but the film just never ends ,it may even still be on , Just looping endlessly round and round the projector ,If someone offered a one way trip to a Swiss clinic during this tedium I would have jumped at the chance I had wondered given some of the revues , but this is just a dull , tedious and dreary film No doubt the sort of people that pretend to like this sort of moody miserable films will say how wonderful it is , when in fact this film could be used as a form of torture , just one viewing and the threat of a second showing would break the hardest suspect The characters are dull and flat , the story drags its feet like a dog going to the vets , If you go , do yourself a favour and take a blanket , a flask of tea maybe even a 10000 piece puzzle to do whilst watching this glum old cods wallop.
I tried to like the movie, I really did try - only to end up being mad at how I wasted my time with something so utterly irrelevant I still can't believe it.The movie basically is split into 3 different stories, starting with a motocross biker (Gosling) who left his girlfriend only to find out later that he has a son with her.
Sad to say but the talents of Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and Eva Mendes were completely wasted on this film.
There are more than three dimensions filmed inside The Place Beyond the Pines, where many ideas are dealt with, each is rich enough to make a movie by its own.The 2 hrs 10 minutes of the movie is in fact the time where at least four different yet connected perspectives are shown, with every one being taken care of as the main one and all main actors in those parts are superstars.It is so good because it has excellent story, actors and directing..
- I am almost certain that it was Ryan Gosling's outstanding performance that hit me deep in my gamut of emotions, resulting in various intense feelings of compassion and sympathy that just seemed to keep appearing throughout the film - he represents such a heartwarming yet melancholic character who you can't help but to sympathize with.
In the most beautifully portrayed way, we undergo af journey starting from Luke Glantons' (Ryan Gosling) unfortunate situation to smoothly transitioning into Avery Cross' (Bradley Cooper) life whilst issues such as fraud within police departments, abandonment, poverty and social heritage are illuminated in the thrill of it all - and the crazy mixture of different perspectives and issues all makes sense.
This for me is the best part of the film.Section 2 has Bradley Cooper as a policeman who is given a heroes welcome back to work but soon finds himself in the corrupt world of underhand dealings within the police department Section 3 revolves around the grown up children of both Gosling's and Cooper's character.I don't want to elaborate too much and give any of the plot away.Doing the film this way though made it way too long.
This sense of trusting the film to take me where it wanted made for an engaging experience and I do suggest you try to come to it the same way.The plot starts with a motorcycle rider who quits his job in the carnival and stays in one town where he learns he fathered a child with a fling a year ago.
The supporting cast is dense with talent from Clohessy, Greenwood, Liotta, Ali and others – they come and go but help the feel of a bigger story.The Place Beyond the Pines is not perfect as a film but it is really engaging as a novel.
It is a waste of time and money.This is the first movie that I have been glad that it was over.Even if a lot of known actors like Eva Mendes, Ryan Gossling and Bradley Cooper were cast, the movie was really bad and lacking of content.
Ryan Gosling is undoubtedly one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood at present.He gained much credibility in the 2011 art-house hit, Drive, playing a taciturn stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver on bank heists.There are close similarities in his most recent film, The Place Beyond the Pines, where he is a drifting and taciturn motorcycle stunt rider in a travelling fair.When the fair returns to the town of Altamont in New York State a year after its previous visit, Gosling's character, Luke Glanton, discovers he is now the father of a 3 month old son, the result of a casual affair.
The end product is way too long, and is not helped by the fact that the tone is one of nearly relentless and one-note gloom.Some good actors like Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling are lost in this desultory mess, and I stopped caring about what would happen to their characters and anyone else for that matter long before the movie itself ended.Grade: D.
Blue Valentine wasn't exceptional, but it showed Derek Cianfrance had potential, whereas The Place Beyond The Pines completely ruins all hopes founded on the director-writer.The most difficult thing to understand is the structure of the movie itself: the script is divided into 3 subparts that fit badly together.
Gosling, in the same register than in Drive, is a bit irritating, but what about Bradley Cooper, one of the best actors of his generation, who is completely transparent because of his bland and uninteresting character.Fortunately, the cinematography is polished because without that, the movie would be a bitter failure.
It was erroneous of me to expect a film experience similar to "Drive" and the experience was very mixed.On the one hand, I cannot deny the effectiveness and depth of the storyline - robber who wants to provide for a lover with his child and the altercation with some corrupt police officers - especially when it was made one run through generations and how by killing off the main character soon in the film proved a risk worth taking.Despite the promise, this project did not bring home the exhilaration one has come to expect from the great crime movies.
Because of the high ratings on IMDb i decided to watch this film,but...It is one of the worst movies i have ever seen, very boring and slow and some weird 3 parts in the story that don't really connect.
The film not only saw Gosling and Williams at the top of their game, but also marked Cianfrance as a director to watch out for and after three years, he has followed it up with the generation- spanning 'The Place Beyond the Pines', a film that explores the notion of the sins of the fathers being passed onto their sons.
In the first story, Ryan Gosling plays Luke Glanton, a stunt rider for a travelling circus who, after a cage of death performance in upstate New York, is told by a woman named Romina (Eva Mendes) that he is the father to her child.
Then, the third story, set 15 years later, is concerned with Luke and Avery's sons (played by Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen, respectively) and the effects the sins of their fathers have had on them.A film which changes main characters three times over and carries out a 15 year jump at the end of its second act could easily end up feeling uneven and formless, but in Cianfrance's skillful hands, we never really feel as if we are watching a different film in each story, because they tie together excellently in a way that flows seamlessly, being adjoined by overarching themes and recurring motifs.
Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen are also very impressive in their roles, being naturalistic and engaging as they take over the film's final act.'The Place Beyond the Pines' is a very strong and bold film with moments of true greatness, especially in the film's first story, which feels akin to some cinematic dream, due to the flawlessness of it.
Mendes good but a bit over the top at times, I thought, but Ray Liotta, in his most brief of brief appearances, is as menacing as one man can look just standing.Still -- this LONG movie felt interminable, as if the writer was just going to keep on adding new weak plots, new central characters.
Produced in 2012 it has Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and Eva Mendes in the cast, all of them acting superbly, it's a beautifully written story about crime and corruption, guilt and fatherhood, which is at the same time human and universal as well as rooted to the detail in the realities of a small town in the state of New York where much of the filming was done on location.
Ryan Gosling, who plays the bike-rider errant-father turned to crime - and who'd I expected to be the major focus of the film - is somebody that on the evidence of this and 'Drive' I remain unconvinced by: he's all about bleached-blond wistfulness, and mumbling - and now pecs and six-pack, apparently; I breathed an audible sigh of relief when the Cooper story took centre-stage.Dane DeHaan as Gosling's son reminded me of a young Leonardo di Caprio, and was quietly effective; I wouldn't be as dismissive of Cooper son Emory Cohen's performance as one reviewer - certainly not on the evidence of one performance: his annoying mannerisms might just be down to script requirements; Eva Mendes looked great in 'Holy Motors', but I've never been convinced by her as an actor; Ray Liotta seems irreversibly typecast, now, and here he just seemed to be 'phoning it in'.
But it has haunted me, like all great films do, and I find myself coming back to it time and time again.Derek Cianfrance's last film, "Blue Valentine," had a similar effect, and was probably one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen - to the extent that, when I recommend it to people, I often tell them I loved it, but would never want to see it again.
The actor who played the role Jason's son was nice.Overall , if you are big fan of Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, the film is a treat for you.
That's the overall message of the depressing "A Place Beyond the Pines", where the bad choices of cops and robbers come back to bite them in the bum.Director Derek Cianfrance of "Blue Valentine", once again makes great use of Ryan Gosling who plays Luke--the epitome of the cool carny.
Brad Cooper and Ryan Gosling great performances but they cannot lift this movie.There were some memorable lines (I'm am your father was a classic).
Sme films should be talked about I feel and other need to be talked about, I believe this movie falls in the latter category.The story follows 2 generations of fathers and sons through their lives starting with Luke Glanton, a motor cyclist who takes up crime to support his infant son and a woman he had a one night fling with.
he gave every part of the film the exact time they needed, he also knew how to find the best in Gosling and made the best work with him.A great movie and a Big recommendation 8/10 , 2 points are lost because the first part was much better than the second and the third ..
Deatailed, clever writing, honest, sincere performances and an tense story, The Place Beyond the Pines is certainly worth the watch for anyone looking for a good drama or crime film.
Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper were great and Eva's character progressed beautifully.
All in all an excellent film with great acting, awesome story writing, a powerful score and interesting characters.
When I had first watched Place Beyond the Pines, it was mostly only because it stars both Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper.