The first and second act are both flawless. The third act is a little weaker as it starts to drag but still solid thanks to a standout performance from Dane DeHaan, continuing to prove he's an actor to watch (his co-star in many scenes, the atrocious 'actor' Emory Cohen who was last seen terrorizing viewers as the unbearable son of Debra Messing in "Smash," is another story and is completely miscast). Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Ben Mendhelson give some of the best performances of the year thus far - Mendes has never impressed me as much as she has here, by the way. Rose Byrne and Ray Liotta are both solid but underused. It's incredibly tense, well-directed and has a lot to say - I felt as if it was trying to make as much of a point about gun violence as it was about the relationship between fathers and sons. The cinematography is also top-notch. Highly recommended. A-

I left the the theater really satisfied with this one. Loved it. And very great use of Bon Iver at the end!

So, ummm, yeah. I was disappointed. My colleague loved the hell out of it, but me? Not impressed. The third act nearly ruins the entire film for me. Nearly. So contrived beyond belief. Thankfuly the first two acts are very good. To my surprise,the film's best performance probably comes from Cooper.

The absolute worst part of the film is Emory Cohen. Why on earth he was cast is beyond me. I read the script a year ago and double checked after seeing it - but his lines are not delivered in that way AT ALL in the screenplay. No idea why the choice was made to have him talk like that.

Other than him, as stated above, I thought it was pretty magnificent.

I bloody hated him and hoped his character would die.

You described everyone who watched "Smash" in its first season in a nutshell there

Though it also applies to this film too. It was especially annoying because Dane DeHaan outacted him in EVERY scene they were in together. It really made his performance seem even worse.

Huh. Maybe I was just so into the movie that his performance didn't really distract me. I didn't think he was bad.

Completely agree with Magnus. Maybe it was the we're-gonna-give-away-everything marketing campaign, but I knew when at least half of the story beats were going to happen in advance. But this film really moved me. I think I liked it more than Blue Valentine. From a technical standpoint it's masterful (every shot of Gosling on the motorcycle was thrilling), the leads are given rich characters to work with and seriously pull it off, and it comes together quite beautifully at the end.

Three very good movies for the price of one!

I really, really liked this. It's kind of flawed in a lot of ways but I actually found the flaws an asset in a weird way. The Place Beyond the Pines is about messiness and disarray and fracture; it makes thematic sense as a follow-up to Blue Valentine for Derek Cianfrance. I also commend it on its relatively unique three-act structure. The acting is terrific across the board (with an exception).. Ryan Gosling is his typical magnetic self, while Bradley Cooper shows his dive into real acting in Silver Linings Playbook wasn't a fluke. Eva Mendes has a haunted edge to her performance, while Ben Mendelsohn is also a standout. Rose Byrne and Ray Liotta are solid but don't have much to work with. Dane DeHaan gives a striking performance, but Emory Cohen is the exception I mentioned. He's better here than he was on Smash (I mean, come on), but I found his deliveries and screen presence more jarring than necessary. When the film gets to the third act and shifts to the kids, that's when the aforementioned messiness really takes over. Obviously the third act is about connecting the past with the present, but it's not clean. It takes a little while for the film's power to take a hold of you. But it does it. A-

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

I found this to be a very interesting film. It's practically three films in one. I mean each chapter could be expanded into it's own stand alone film but there were some interesting questions that it made me think about as it rolled along. First, I enjoyed each chapter. Second, the acting was excellent all around. The mood and feeling created in some of the more intense sequences were top notch. I really had no clue which way the film was going to go towards the end at one pivotal scene. The music used was incorporated perfectly in the film. Only one part where it might have been iffy for me but ott it was perfect to me. Finally, the film is a bit long and I certainly did notice it but I can live with it.

Grade - A

I'm sad at how disappointed I was in this. Ambitious, yet on a very intimate scale, but whose plot progression depends on two completely unrealistic and unbelievable situations (Kofi telling Jason his father's name and Jason not figuring out who AJ is from his initial Google search).

I don't think it unrealistic that he wouldn't know AJ was his son. The article he saw wouldn't have mentioned him as a baby. Even if he went to Wikipedia who looks up the children of the person you are researching. Plus instead of AJ it would have said his full name, so if he wasn't strictly looking for it he could have missed it.

What I'd like to know is how AJ became so ghetto? They seemed like good middle class family in the beginning yet the son became such a thug. Also, the other kid being a loner drug thief. Some seriously terrible parenting with those two boys.

I don't buy it though because if I were Jason, (and yes, I'm obviously putting my own thoughts and opinions into actions here) and found out that my outlaw dad wasn't killed in a car accident but shot by a cop who was currently running a statewide political campaign, I would dig a bit deeper and want to know everything I could about the guy who killed my dad.

Finally someone agrees!

The Place Beyond the Pines is an outsize drama of crime and domestic dysfunction. In almost each way, it is large: big explosions of suspense and violence, big ideas regarding fathers and sons, big ideas regarding American justice, big masculine personalities, big visual cues, its extended length (to tell a story set over the course of two decades), and so on and so forth. This mode of maximum-overdrive directorial ambition and confidence can be exhausting and self-defeating, but in the tradition of Heat, The Place Beyond the Pines never ceases to be creative, electrifying, majestic, and moving, from its cool-as-ice opening sequence to its healing and melancholic final scenes. There are so many points where it could slip into overindulgence or become uneven ("15 Years Later" and a third shift in focus!), but each element woven into the fabric is just right, and it becomes magical in its own brutal way.

Great review, David. I can't wait to see it.

Great film with fantastic performances from Gosling, Cooper, and Dehaan. Sure it's a little too long, but I was never bored. It really does stay with you afterward and while I never cried or anything the emotional beats do hit you pretty hard.

I found the first act the best and most emotional, but I also liked how it all came together in the third act.

Can't wait to watch it again.

Overwrought.


3 out of 5.

This is so far the best film of 2013. I thought it was beautiful. Very well-done and incredibly involving. The biggest problem I had with the film and the only problem I had with the third act was Emory Cohen. I cannot stand this actor. He was terrible on the show "Smash." I thought maybe he'd be fine in this as sometimes actors give a bad performance in something and are great in something else. But nope. He was worse here. Give him a Razzie right now. I seriously hope he never works again and have no clue how he earned a place amongst an otherwise flawless cast filled with talented actors. He sticks out like a sore thumb. I definitely plan on watching this film again in the future and yet I dread when I'll get to that third act because of him. People complain about Taylor Lautner's acting but even he's better than this kid. Probably the worst young actor working today. I can't think of another young actor who is so gratingly terrible.

That being said, everyone else was great. Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Dane DeHaan. I really loved the story and how everything connected. I thought it was pretty moving. I may be alone but I actually got tears in my eyes at one point. It was when
Luke (Gosling) was feeding his son ice cream for the first time. I'm not sure if this is because it was such a nice moment or because I knew things were going to end badly. Maybe a bit of both.


9/10 (A-)

The Notebook guy has become such a precious and mannered actor he almost ready for Kabuki and The Hangover guy's idea of dramatic acting is restricted to a pinched face, he should stick to the broad comedy.

I actually really loved this. I had no expectations even though I adored Blue Valentine and loved the cast. It just didn't seem great to me but I'm glad I gave it a shot. Cooper and Mendes were fantastic and Gosling was great as well. It definitely was a little long and some stuff could have been cut (I also would have enjoyed if the beginning was Gosling's character was fleshed out a bit more) but other than that, it was a really great, moving film.

9/10

A depressing double feature with Nebraska. Alas, I do not know where papa is.

I agree this holds up very well upon repeat viewings.

The Place Beyond the Pines

That was a really great film, with an epic yet subdued quality to it. Admittedly the first two thirds were better than the last third, but it mattered not by that point as I was hooked. Ryan Gosling has a fantastic screen presence, and this becomes his second best film after Drive. Bradley Cooper, an actor that I've really not completely warmed to over the years has, this year, made up for it all with this and American Hustle. The guy's a great actor. Liotta also recaptures something that I haven't seen from him in a long time. Mendes is good, too.

I should have watched this sooner. It has a moving score and some of the most majestic imagery I've seen this year, with some utterly awesome silent tracking shots. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the film moved me, but I certainly felt something - perhaps it's a delayed response. On a technical level it hits all the right notes, and the three-stage story is superbly connected, and despite a few issues with a certain someone (we all know who), it culminated in a lovely, audience-pleasing 'full circle' moment for the DeHaan's tormented and agitated teenager.

A-

Nice review