A PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
As a teenage girl I have seen more movies starring Ryan
Gosling than I can count, however I feel A Place Beyond the Pines had to be my
favorite of all. This movie, directed by Derek Clanfrance, not only stars Ryan
Gosling but also Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes. The 140-minute movie takes no
time to mess around and jumps right into a story line. Luke (Gosling), a
motorcycle stuntman, tours city to city doing shows at carnivals. Right before
leaving New York to travel to the next city Luke learns he fathered the child
of Romina (Eva Mendes) while being in New York for the past year. After Romina
leaves Luke for another man, who can actually support their son, Luke decides
to do whatever it takes to make money. However, his foolproof plan to get a lot
of cash is to rob banks. Luke begins to rob banks and get away with it, until
one day his plan goes wrong. When Luke crosses paths with Avery (Bradley
Cooper), a policeman determined for justice, the story takes a complete
plot-changing turn.
This movie is an intense drama that will keep your attention
despite the length. It’s an interesting plot with the first hour focusing on
Goslings character, the next hour being about Cooper’s character and the last
40 minutes to tie everything together. Although it was possible to end the
story sooner, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire movie. Due to the dramatic story
line, the movie was mainly shot at a medium shot or a close up. However a
handful of scenes began with an extreme long shot. One scene I found
interesting was when Luke was riding his motorcycle through the woods. It was
cool, because all the shots kept changing. The scene was to show how stressed
Luke was and how he uses riding to clear his mind. It also showed how dangerous
he is, because he was riding through a forest and barley missing each tree. The
shots were interesting, because they showed all different kinds of angles.
First they would do a long shot showing him weaving through the trees. Then,
they would do a close up showing you how close he is getting to each tree.
They’d also show different angles and switched from shot to shot very quickly.
I felt this was cool, because all the shot s in the other scenes stayed in a
medium or close up shot, and this was the only scene that had everything in it
at once. It also did a good job of making the audience feel like you are right
there with him. I started to get anxiety watching him nearly hit the trees and feeling
like I was experiencing the ride as well.
The
movie was great and very different from anything I’ve ever seen before. It was
also interesting how throughout the movie you find yourself rooting for the
antagonist (Gosling). I found myself hoping he’d get away with each bank he
stole from, because you learn his back-story and know him as a person not just
a bank robber. The most interesting aspect of the movie was how many storylines
were built into one movie and how it all came together. Although, there were
many parts that were unrealistic and cheesy I loved the movie. It is hard to
express why I liked this movie without giving too much away, I really enjoyed
it and strongly feel it was Goslings best role, and quite possibly Cooper’s as
well. Despite the length I would definitely see this movie again and I give it
5/5 stars.
