While I’ve never truly understood why so many women are so
rabidly ga-ga for Ryan Gosling, I will say that opening a movie with images of
his shirtless torso covered in tattoos is quite a pleasant attention-getter. And
having him straddle a motorcycle with a cigarette dangling from his lips, yeah – I'll admit that had a little bit of a ga-ga effect.
In The Place Beyond the Pines, a bleach-blond Gosling plays
a gritty motorcycle daredevil, aptly named “Awesome Luke,” who performs with a
traveling carnival. When he reconnects with a former conquest (Eva Mendes), and
discovers that she has given birth to their child, the nomadic bad boy decides
to stick around and give fatherhood a go. Having grown up without a father
himself, he has no clue how to be one, and comes to the misguided conclusion
that robbing banks is his best option for providing for his child.
Bradley Cooper plays a cop whose run-in with Luke forever
alters his life, and the lives of both of their sons. And thus begins a chain of
events that affect and connect two generations of the two families. The
movie strings together three separate narratives that illustrate the dramatic domino
effect, set in motion by Luke’s choices.
Sounds interesting , right? In theory, it is.
Out of curiosity, I scanned the internet to see what other
reviewers thought of the movie, and sure enough, I found that I’m in the minority
in my lack of enthusiasm for it. The premise is certainly intriguing, the cast
is great (it's sort of a battle of blue-eyed brooders, if you will), and I think it
had the potential to be really cool. But, to me, it was poorly
executed and the pacing was atrocious! I checked the time at about an hour in,
and realized I still had an hour and twenty minutes to go. I managed to contain
my audible groan, but just barely.
Many people say it’s brilliantly clever, but I must have had
a rare moment of clairvoyance, because I saw most of it coming from a mile
away. The movie certainly maintains a very dangerous, desperate vibe
throughout, but I just didn’t find the characters sympathetic or compelling
enough to keep me adequately invested the whole time. As far as I know, I don’t
suffer from A.D.D., but it felt like the movie slowed to a snail’s pace, and it
lost me more and more as it progressed.
I was also very
disappointed to see Ray Liotta and character actor Robert Clohessy tossed in as
ubiquitous two-dimensional, almost cartoonish bad cops. Why try to elevate such
throw-away characters by using such familiar, beloved actors who are capable of
so much more? Quite a letdown.
So, bleh. I had high hopes, but The Place Beyond the Pines just left
me flat. Bummer.
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