Few actors these days have hotter careers than Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper. Gosling is riding the success with the mixture of small budget art films like "Blue Valentine" and "Drive" along with big budget blockbusters like "The Ides of March" and "Gangster Squad". Cooper is best known as Phil from "The Hangover" series along with his recent Oscar nominated turn in "Silver Linings Playbook".
Both join forces with Derek Cianfrance (who previously worked with Gosling on "Blue Valentine") for "The Place Beyond the Pines" a film about the choices we make and how they affect us and others down the road. For those who have seen "Blue Valentine", I could see why you may want to avoid this film because you might be afraid that it will make you feel absolutely awful about life but thankfully this film isn't nearly as much as a bummer as "Blue Valentine".
"Pines" is divided up into three acts as we follow the story of Goslings motor cycle stunt biking Luke (Act 1), Cooper's Cop/aspiring politician Avery (Act 2) and then 15 years later with the interaction of their sons.
Gosling's Luke is a stunt biker who works for a traveling circus and it makes a stop in Schenectady, NY (Schenectady in the language of the local Native American population means "The Place Beyond the Pines") where he runs into Romina (Eva Mendes, trying to wriggle herself free from the death grip of irrelevancy) who he met a year before. Romina wanted to see him because she wanted to let him know that he has a son and she didn't feel right not letting him know. Luke becomes infatuated with his infant son upon his first meeting and he quits his job and wants to prove to Romina that he will attempt to stay around and help create a life for them together as a family.
Luke gets a job at a run down low profit mechanics garage and he needs to make more money. His partner (Ben Mendehlson) gives him the idea of robbing banks in order to make that money. He has done it before and convinces Luke that with his skills as motorcycle rider they could make a killing. This is the highlight of film watching Luke on these high octane motor cycle chases from the police after robbing the banks.
Luke runs into trouble after one robbery and he crosses paths with rookie cop Avery Cross (Cooper) who is struggling to prove himself as a police officer and the events that follow their interaction affect the rest of the film. At first glance, we see Luke as a bad guy who has made many a questionable decision in his life and Avery as a straight edge do gooder who only wants to serve his fellow man. As the film progresses, we witness how the choices they make not only affect those around them in the film, but also affect and change our own opinions on each of them by the end.
The biggest change is made by Cooper, whose intentions begin as good as he becomes exposed to the corrupt dealings of the police department (led by Ray Liotta as a pretty scary corrupt detective) and attempts to deal with them the "right" way until he finally gives in to the same behaviors his fellow police officers display.
This all leads to the third act which shows us in Schenectady 15 years later and the sons of both Gosling's Luke and Coopers Avery meet up in school (almost too conveniently) and strike up a "friendship". Beware...you will hate the actor who plays Coopers' son A.J.( didn't even bother to look up his name) I don't know if it was intended to hate his character so much but I did...he needed to be pummeled with a man-hole cover. The story progresses rather predictably from here on out which made the third act the weakest of the three but still entertaining nevertheless. The ending does bring the story full circle nicely and it is interesting to see how the two boys have been influenced by the actions/decisions made by their fathers which also helps how we shape our opinions on Luke and Avery.
Gosling is great...but it isn't anything we haven't seen before from him. If you have seen the movie "Drive", his performance in "Pines" is a carbon copy of that as we watch him brood, be violent, and have a talent for driving vehicles. Also, as someone who has multiple tattoos, Luke's tattoo etiquette is freakin crazy (even for a bad ass bike rider). Despite all of this, his performance drives the film as he has most of the scenes that display the raw emotional intensity that we have come to expect from the Gos. Cooper is effective as well as he continues to come into his own in heavy dramatic films.
"Pines" definitely isn't a film for everyone and it is something you will either love or hate. I wouldn't say I loved it after one viewing but I did really enjoy it. However, there will be those who will be drawn to see it just by the cast alone and walk out hating the world. I'm excited to see the director Cianfrance continue to get work and hopefully bigger budgets so he can keep turning out great work like this. He is definitely someone to watch for the future...
4/5
Be Cool...
"Pines" definitely isn't a film for everyone and it is something you will either love or hate. I wouldn't say I loved it after one viewing but I did really enjoy it. However, there will be those who will be drawn to see it just by the cast alone and walk out hating the world. I'm excited to see the director Cianfrance continue to get work and hopefully bigger budgets so he can keep turning out great work like this. He is definitely someone to watch for the future...
4/5
Be Cool...
