Schenectady (NY) translates to the Place Beyond the Pines. Using the gritty rural setting as the movie’s backdrop, director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) weaves a beautiful tapestry of elevating tension and solid acting. Despite an underwhelming final act, The Place Beyond the Pines is a wonderful study of the effects of fate, time, and parental guidance.
The Place Beyond the Pines can be divided into three parts. The movie opens with motorcycle stuntman Luke (Ryan Gosling) finding out he had a kid with one-time fling Rowena (Eva Mendes). Feeling a sense of responsibility for the first time, Luke gets involved in his son’s life and gets a job with Robin (Ben Mendelsohn) as a car mechanic. As it turns out, Robin used to rob the local bank repeatedly, and he helps Luke perform the same act to provide for his son. The two are very successful, but the success goes to Luke’s head and he ends up in a chase with Avery (Bradley Cooper). After the chase, the point of view switches to Avery (part 2) and his newfound reputation as a hero. He becomes a rising star in the police ranks until an unfortunate trip with his superior Deluca (Ray Liotta). Avery is forced to choose between his allegiance to the force or his belief system and moral integrity. Part 3 takes place 15 years later, when we get to see what has become of Luke’s (Dane DeHaan) and Avery’s (Emory Cohen) sons, and what happens when their lives become intertwined.
The Place Beyond the Pines is a long film (140 mins), but it actually could use more screen time, or be split up into two films, both equally compelling. One film could have been a study of how one act can intertwine the fates of a whole group of people. It could limit the characters in the first two parts and focus on the dual father/son comparison of Luke and Avery, and would give Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen more time to flesh out their characters. The second film would be to showcase the effect fathers have on their children. Instead of forcing the kids together, we could have seen parallels at different times in both family chains. As constructed in the movie’s current state, the father/son comparison is very compelling and the role of fate is rushed to hit a reasonable conclusion.
The strength of The Place Beyond the Pines is creating an atmosphere dripping in tension. Director Cianfrance establishes the stakes early using his intimate camera angles and sounds of motorcycles. The motorcycle sound takes a different connotation as the movie goes on, much like the sound of a police car in the second part. The score by Mike Patton and Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography give the movie a grisly isolated setting that is equal parts unsettling and comforting, depending on the scene.
The acting ranges from solid to terrific. Ryan Gosling continues his string of great performance with another one. Luke is a lot like Gosling’s character from Drive, but a little more unhinged and bubbling with rage. Bradley Cooper continues to prove that he is an actor to be taken seriously. Avery’s idealism directly conflicts with itself on multiple occasions, and Cooper gives a nuanced, unique reactions to each different scenario he is put in without overacting. Dane DeHaan is becoming the go to young actor for melancholy and intensity. His character is clearly rushed in the final act, but DeHaan gives him enough complexity and rooting interest to keep the narrative worth watching. Ben Mendelsohn does good character work as Gosling’s partner, finding the right line between empathetic, smart, lonely, and creepy. Ray Liotta, Mahershala Ali, Gabe Fazio, Rose Byrne, and Bruce Greenwood give solid performances as well. Eva Mendes tries her best here, but she needs a few more roles in movies like these to be considered a really great actress, and AJ Cohen is used more like a plot device than being a character himself.
Fathers are products of the sons, and sins of the father can create sins in the son. These are not easy themes to digest, but The Place Beyond the Pines uses a taut, intriguing thriller/character study draw the audience in and express these themes. Another, much lesser theme, is how Schenectady breeds people with smoldering menace and eye tattoos. I doubt this film will appear on any of the town’s tourism brochures any time soon.