The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

Robin: "If you ride like lightning, you're gonna crash like thunder."

By Derek Cianfrance
With Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes

I was looking forward to The Place Beyond the Pines as Ryan Gosling has been one of my favorite actors ever since I saw him in The United States of Leland (2003), Stay (2005) and The Believer (2001). I have to say I was more disappointed with his recent roles, however, I don't think his acting got any worse, rather he has been more prolific and therefore has acted in more films in which I can be disappointed.

The movie starts with Luke, is a stunt motorcyclist who performs in a circus for daredevil acts. After one show, he meets Romina, who he hasn't seen in about a year. The two were once a couple but she now sees someone else. However, the next day when Luke wants to go see Romina, he sees her mother and Romina's baby--who is in fact his. This changes his life as he wants to provide for Romina and Jason, but with the circus moving out of the town, he has no job.

He then meets Robin, a loner who owns a little garage and has robbed a few banks in the past. When he sees how well Luke can ride a motorcycle, he decides to start robbing again with Luke's help. On top of all the dangers associated with robbing, Luke will soon learn that it takes more than money to be a father.

The Place Beyond the Pines is divided into three segments, with some characters appearing in all of them and some not. I thought it wasn't the best decision to make it so, as I feel like doing one deeper story about one segment could have been more profitable. I also felt that the story didn't live up to the impress cast. The story ran out of breath half-way through and I wasn't as interested afterwards. Some of the coincidental situations seemed implausible, while some others had no convincing conclusion. It didn't help with the overall clarity of the movie. In the end, I felt the movie ran too long past its highest point.

I liked: Acting. Good moral themes. Entertaining.

I disliked: Ran too long. Not really believable.

62/100
Well, it's always worth watching for Ryan Gosling but I expected more out of this movie.