Serious Movie Lover

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (2012/IN THEATERS)  Derek Cianfrance, the writer/director of this film as well as 2010’s Blue Valentine, teams up a second time with Ryan Gosling to bring us a three-part tale of fathers and sons set in Schenectady, New York (of note, the title of the movie is based on the Mohawk translation of Schenectady—who knew?).  The film opens with a lengthy tracking shot featuring Gosling as main character Luke Glanton, shot from behind, blond haired and covered in tattoos, heading to his “event” at a traveling carnival where he performs daring motorcycle tricks as part of a trio of other young riders.  Luke is clearly good at this—he’s the star– and life seems pretty good.  He even receives a short visit from Romina (Eva Mendes), an attractive woman he had known on his last time though town.  She doesn’t tell him at first, but he soon learns that he has a young son named Jason, thanks to their hook-up a year earlier.  Stunned by this news and by the sight of the baby, Luke quits his job and declares to Romina that he will be part of her life and will do his duty as a father, despite the fact that she already has another relationship with a solid, good man.  Looking for work, Luke teams up with a mechanic named Robin (Ben Mendelsohn, fabulous in the role) who loans him a trailer and talks up the idea of robbing banks together.  The two decide to go for it and soon Luke is using his motorcycle riding skills to outrun the cops, saving up the stolen money to give to Jason.  But ultimately it can’t last and as the film crosses to its second storyline, we meet Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), a new cop whose path crosses with Luke’s during a desperate and ultimately failed escape from the final robbery.  Avery is an educated young man, with a law degree and a father who is a prominent judge.  He has chosen to be a cop, despite the concern of his young and pretty wife (Rose Byrne) who worries about his safety.  Ironically, he also has a young son the same age as Jason.  The second part of the movie focuses almost exclusively on Avery as he reaches a decision to either be part of the police corruption he encounters (embodied by Ray Liotta as a bad cop named Deluca) or to rise above it.  Avery is no dummy and he seizes the opportunities presented to him.  We then move 15 years forward to find that Avery, now divorced, is running for District Attorney.  He still lives in Schenectady; his son, AJ, is moving in with him because he’s too much to handle for his poor mother.  In a chance encounter at the local high school, AJ meets Jason and the third leg of the story begins. AJ (Emory Cohen) is a troubled kid with a real NYC-style swagger.  Jason (Dane DeHaan) is a quiet loner who rides his BMX bike, gets into trouble frequently, and longs to know more about his real father.  By the end of the film, he’ll know plenty and so will we.

The movie is ambitious in its story telling and it’s long—2 hours and 20 minutes—but I found it good, on the whole.  As other reviewers have noted, the third piece of the trilogy is easily the weakest—in part because the character of AJ is so darned unattractive and the young actor playing him is just not that good (maybe you remember Emory Cohen as Debra Messing’s son in the first season of Smash?).  But his counterpart, Dane DeHaan is very good and incidentally, so are the others, including Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes.  Cianfrance clearly has a way with actors.  For me, it’s Gosling who sets the bar so high—he carries the entire first act brilliantly, blending his Drive character (strong and silent) with his Blue Valentine personae (confused, well-meaning, naïve).  As Jason examines a photo of his father late in the film, we are reminded of just how charismatic Luke was and is.  Another great performance from Gosling and one that makes this film almost work.

Grade:             B