The Place Beyond the Pines

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ayall
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The Place Beyond the Pines

Post by ayall »

recently caught this movie, really good.

the film itself is a bit long, but if you're patient enough, it pays off.

Derek Cianfrance did a great job directing and writing the film.
The movie itself is presented in 3 acts. The 3rd act does a good job of tieing the story together and presents an ending i enjoyed (felt "full circled").

Great cast all around; Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper both do a phenomenal job.
The acting by the younger boys wasn't that great, but i think it didn't necessarily ruin the film.

I feel this movie flew under the radar and deserves more attention.

Cianfrance also did Blue Valentine, which i didn't like so much, but this movie has a similar pace and character development.

9/10

Note: IMDB has this film as (2012) but Criticker is showing (2013).

Stewball
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Re: The Place Beyond the Pines

Post by Stewball »

Yeah, I enjoyed the story too except for the ending. I mean what was the point. A guy has the courage of his convictions and does what he should, but his life and almost every ones else's in the story, still become screwed up. Yeah, it happens, but why make a movie about it? And I didn't get his remorse, it was a righteous shoot.

I thought the two kids played their roles pretty well, particularly the one playing Cooper's son. I normally don't like Mendes, she's always seems so angry, but in this case that's what the role called for.

I wonder too about the dating of movies. A lot of times even IMDb and R/T don't agree. WTF?

ayall
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Re: The Place Beyond the Pines

Post by ayall »

i don't think it was a "righteous shot."
[spoiler]I think Goslings character was going to surrender.
Cooper shot first, and i think the movie does a pretty good job of showing that he too thought Goslings character was going to surrender. It was Cooper being trigger happy that killed Gosling.[/spoiler]

How could you not like the ending?
I thought it actually tied the story off really well.
[spoiler]Cooper was the first to make the connection to Goslings son, and i think he knew his spoiled douche kid would fuck with that kid... sure enough he did. I liked that it was Coopers son that egged Goslings son to rob the pharmacy (similar to Gosling being egged on to rob the bank).[/spoiler]
And the ending, how could you not like that?
[spoiler]Total "the son becomes the father" motif, with Goslings son getting into motorcycles and riding out west (likely to join the circus)[/spoiler].

One of the themes I really liked in the movie was that people wouldn't talk about the truth and it led to unintended consequences.
[spoiler]If Cooper had a explained the situation to his son after the police station, perhaps his son wouldn't have been such a douche to Goslings son. If Mendes told her son the truth about his father growing up, perhaps he wouldn't have become so similar to him.[/spoiler]

Stewball
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Re: The Place Beyond the Pines

Post by Stewball »

Don't get me wrong, I liked it but for what seems to be an actual disconnect at the end. [spoiler]What happened to Cooper in the intervening (18?) year gap, turning from a man with courage and integrity (with the critical help of his father, I should add), into one who divorced his wife and didn't care enough to follow up on his douche-bag son--who at the end looked like he was going to stay that way.[/spoiler] The only (unsatisfying) "explanation" I can come up with is he just couldn't get past his false sense of guilt. Can we be damned for doing the right thing?

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