antoniotierno Review of The Place Beyond the Pines

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

Gosling simply phenomenal in a dense story‏

[7/10 · 8 April 2013]

The Place Beyond the Pines" follows two fathers and two sons over two decades in a quite effective film. In spite of its being a little overlong it has a strong rawness and two excellent acting performances. Ryan Gosling and Bradle Cooper are a perfect pair of opposites: Gosling is all wildness whereas Cooper wonderfully plays a man who rehearsed for life and seems uncomfortable with praise. The film's first two-thirds, focusing on these two men, are fascinating but the story ends up losing a bit its own way in the last half-hour (the coincidence of the grown sons coming across each other is forced). However everything ends on the right note with a journey on an old motorbike and a slow fade into a new beginning.