Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • Services
    • Aircheck for Actors
    • Demo Reels
    • Audition Prep/Self-Tape Reader
    • Mailing Labels
    • Contribute
    • Industry Links
    • Advertise
    Daily Actor
    • Acting Tips
      • Actors on Acting
      • Advice Columns
      • Acting Quotes
      • Audition Tapes
      • How To Become An Actor
      • How to Memorize Lines
    • Monologues
      • Monologues from Plays
      • Monologues from Movies
      • Monologues from Musicals
      • Comedic Monologues
      • Dramatic Monologues
      • One Minute Monologues
      • Monologues for Women
      • Monologues for Men
      • Monologues for Teens
      • Monologues for Kids
      • All Monologues
    • Acting Resources
      • Acting Resume
        • Acting Resume Template
      • Acting Classes
        • Los Angeles Acting Classes
        • Las Vegas Acting Classes
        • San Diego Acting Classes
      • Acting Schools and Colleges
        • Los Angeles
        • New York
        • BFA Acting Schools
      • Casting Websites
      • Headshot Photographers
        • Los Angeles
        • New York City
        • Headshot Printing
      • Acting Techniques
        • What is Method Acting?
      • Stage Directions
      • Demo Reels: Everything You Need to Know
    • Interviews
      Featured
      Casting Director Interview - Brett Benner and Debby Romano

      Interview: Casting Directors Brett Benner and Debby Romano Talk ‘Shrinking’, Finding Actors and More

      Recent
      Casting Director Interview - Brett Benner and Debby Romano

      Interview: Casting Directors Brett Benner and Debby Romano Talk ‘Shrinking’, Finding Actors and More

      March 6, 2023
      Jeremy Davis Olaf in Frozen Interview

      Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in ‘Frozen’, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own

      January 19, 2023
      Casting Director Kim Coleman Interview

      Interview: Casting Director Kim Coleman on ‘Five Days at Memorial’, Self-Tape Tips and Portraying Real People

      January 11, 2023
    • Actor Blogs
    • Reviews
      • Movies
      • Theater
      • Books
      • Products
    • Actor Services
      • Airchecks
      • Demo Reels
      • Website Design
      • Mailing Labels
    Daily Actor
    Home » Reviews » Review: ‘The Place Beyond The Pines’
    Reviews

    Review: ‘The Place Beyond The Pines’

    Lance CarterBy Lance CarterApril 5, 2013Updated:September 16, 2018No Comments3 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    the-place-beyond-the-pinesDerek Cianfrance‘s The Place Beyond The Pines is three movies packed into one. Think of it like a novel instead of a film.

    The story begins with Luke (Ryan Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider who’s been traveling the country performing in county fairs. When he finds out that a former fling (Eva Mendes) has given birth to his child, he decides it’s time to step-up and provide for his new son. He meets a former con who convinces him to help him rob a couple of banks. With his particular skill on motorcycles, it should be a breeze. And it is. They’re pulling jobs left and right. The cops are quickly on the hunt and ambitious rookie cop Avery (Bradley Cooper) enters the scene. What follows next and throughout the story is a series of events that impact the lives of everyone involved for years to come. Corrupt cops, drugs, death; you name it. 

    Like I said, the film is shaped like a big sprawling novel. But unfortunately, like some ambitious novels that start off extremely promising, they also tend to fall apart towards the end.

    The first 2/3’s of the film is absolutely fantastic. If Cianfrance, who’s last film Blue Valentine (also starring Gosling) was outstanding, cut and wrapped the picture at that point, it would have been one of my favorite films of the year (so far).

    But it doesn’t. The last 1/3 of the film is absolutely frustrating. It has characters who I hated and one in particular, I wished would die every second he was on screen. These last set of characters are the products of all the events set in motion earlier so we are supposed to understand and sympathize but that was so far from what I felt. I disliked it and them so much, it left me with an awful taste in my mouth. It wasn’t the actors performances in this section, they were perfectly fine. Maybe almost too good as to get me worked up like it did.

    But saying all this, I actually think you should see the film because Gosling and Cooper are clicking on all cylinders.

    Gosling is one of those tatted-up guys (complete with tear-drop tattoo) who when you see walking towards you, you immediately want to cross the street. You never quite know what he’s thinking and that helps him have that aura of danger. His character could actually be a cousin to Driver, the guy he played in Drive.

    Cooper gives, I think, a performance that’s even better than the one he was nominated for in Silver Linings Playbook. He’s the character we are with for most of the movie and as he ages (almost 15-20 years), we see a character who goes from good, honest rookie cop to someone who has lived in a system who eats those kinds of guys for breakfast.

    The film is frustrating towards the end, yes, but as always, performances win out.

    Also starring Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen, Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne and Ben Mendelsohn

    Related

    Previous ArticleSXSW Interview: Bruce Campbell Talks ‘Evil Dead’: “To me it’s not a remake or a prequel or a sequel or a reimagining”
    Next Article SXSW ‘Arrested Development’ Panel with Will Arnett, Jeffrey Tambor and Mitch Hurwitz

    Related Posts

    Theater Review: ‘Mean Girls the Musical’

    March 2, 2023

    Movie Review: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’

    February 16, 2023

    Theater Review: ‘Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations’

    January 5, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Daily Actor Facebook Daily Actor Twitter Daily Actor Instagram Daily Actor Pinterest Daily Actor YouTube Page
    Popular Pages
    Become An Actor | Acting Tips | Acting Quotes
    Acting Resume | Resume Template
    Headshot Photographers
    Los Angeles | New York
    Print Your Headshots
    Acting Schools & Colleges
    Los Angeles | New York
    Monologues
    Movies | Plays | Comedic | Dramatic
    Men | Women | Teens | Kids
    • Contact
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Resource Listings
    • Write A Column
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy

    Disclaimer: Daily Actor at times uses affiliate links to sites like Amazon.com, streaming services, and others. Affiliate links provides compensation to Daily Actor which helps us remain online, giving you the resources and information actors like you are looking for.

    © 2023 Daily Actor

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.