So my friend Zach showed me the trailer for this movie, and then he said that he could not tell me anything else about it, because it would ruin the movie. Well I will tell you that he is very correct. And that is going to make my review exceedingly hard because I do not want to let my viewers know anything before they watch it for themselves. Zach said that The Place Beyond the Pines was even better than Silver Linings Playbook, one of my top three movies of last year. I find it hard to pick which one I liked more, because they are two different genres, but both are great movies. And I don’t want to overstate this, or hype it too much but:
This movie was BRILLIANT!
From the direction, to the writing, to the acting, to the structure, I find it hard to find a flaw with this movie. But again, I don’t want to give anything away because this movie is best watched when you do not know what is going to happen. But don’t worry, the movie is crafted so well that you won’t lose track of what is going on, and as far as I was concerned, I was hooked and wanted to see what was going to come next. If you’ve seen the trailer, that is alright, because it doesn’t reveal too much other than what I will say in my review in terms of who is in it.
First of all, the movie is directed by Derek Cianfrance, whose only known directorial credit was Blue Valentine, although I haven’t seen it yet. It stars Ryan Gosling (also in Blue Valentine, Drive) as a guy who rides a motorcycle, Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, Limitless) as a cop, and Eva Mendes as someone’s love interest. But don’t be swayed by my succinct summary; this movie is not some love-triangle-rom-com. This movie is deep, and it says a lot of things, although I won’t say them here because I don’t want to ruin anything. It also stars one of my favorite young actors who continues to show that he has some good stuff, Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, Lawless, X-Men: First Class).
And I hate to cheat my loyal viewers, but… that’s all I really want to say. I HIGHLY recommend The Place Beyond the Pines, even though it is 2 hours and 20 minutes long. The movie ended and I was just floored by how much I enjoyed it. I’ll say that this movie is very intelligent, in terms of its pacing and its structure, and it is unlike anything I see with regularity. Definitely one of my top movies of 2013 already, and I see it near the top of my list near the end, even with my guilty pleasure superhero movies in full swing this summer. Sorry that I couldn’t say much, but you will thank me later.
[P.S. On an unrelated note, I watched The Campaign with Will Ferrell. So mediocre that I have nothing interesting to say about it.]
Michael Night's Miscellany 