Directed By: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta and Dane Dehann
What It’s About: A carnival stunt rider turns to bank robbery to support his newly-discovered baby son.
Rated R (for language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and a sexual reference)
Runtime: 140 minutes
By Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance and the talented Ryan Gosling reunite in a sweeping tale of cops and robbers and fathers and sons in The Place Beyond the Pines.
Like his portrayal of the laconic character in Drive, Ryan Gosling delivers another powerful performance as motorcycle stunt rider Luke who, while putting on his carnival act in Schenectady, New York, reunites with an old flame named Romina (Eva Mendes) who reveals that they conceived a child during their last fling a year prior. Luke tries to get involved in his baby son’s life and decides to quit his stunt job and take a job at a hole-in-the-wall auto-repair shop run by Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), who admits he can’t pay Luke enough money to support his son. Robin recommends Luke utilize his skill set to commit a series of bank robberies. However, after an incident with Romina’s husband Kofi (Mahershala Ali), Luke desperately attempts a double robbery, which puts him on a collision course with law school graduate police officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).
Here the narrative shifts its focus to Cross as he comes to terms with his encounter with Luke and questions the moral stance of his police department and of the choices he makes. Jump ahead 15 years and both Luke’s baby son (Dane Dehaan) and Cross’ son (Emory Cohen) have grown up and find themselves finishing what their fathers started.
The two fathers in question, Luke and Avery, represent the productive and protective aspects of fatherhood. Neither character is a particularly good father. Both mean well, but sacrifice too much in their attempts to provide for or shield their sons and end up depriving their kin rather than nourishing them.
Ryan Gosling, adopting the nuance of his character in Drive, makes Luke both fearsome and sympathetic. His tattered Metallica shirt and tatted complexion mirrors his internal scarring and ferocious ambition. Bradley Cooper is a good man caught at the wrong time in the right place with the right person, burdened by guilt. He struggles to reconcile the outcome of his confrontation with Luke and carries that doubt with him up to the climax of the final segment.
The lives of Luke and Avery do not just affect themselves. Their choices infect the lives of those around them: their lovers, their friends, their coworkers and, most importantly, their sons.
While not as poignant as his previous film, Derek Cianfrance has crafted an arresting picture that is sure to be under an analytical scope for years to come.
Courtesy of collider.com