[7]

The Place Beyond the Pines, from writer/director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), is a family epic of sorts. The first third of the film follows a low-life motorcycle showman, played by Ryan Gosling, who turns to crime to try and provide for his baby mama and infant son. I dare say this is the best Ryan Gosling performance yet — you really feel for his character, and Gosling gets a chance to show considerable range here. It’s Oscar-caliber work. Then Gosling’s character collides with one played by Bradley Cooper. Cooper plays a young cop who is also providing for a newborn son and wife, and who is just beginning to uncover corruption within the police department. Both of these main characters make decisions that change lives, and then we have the third act which follows the two infant sons grown into young men, both trying to escape the shadow of their fathers’ legacies. The script is a bit didactic and a little uneven, but it’s interesting storytelling with operatic dilemmas. Gosling is just so damned good in his opening third, that the other two thirds of the movie simply pale in comparison. Cianfrance directs the shit out of the movie and there’s not a single weak link in the entire cast. With Eva Mendes, Rose Byrne, Bruce Greenwood, and Ray Liotta.