Think back to 2010: remember the headlines created by Blue Valentine? Shot on a minuscule budget – a million dollars – by little known director Derek Cianfrance, the indie flick was highly commended for its verisimilitude. This compliment was directed mainly at its stars – Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams – and its director, who relied on improvisation to create a harrowing love story. Critics named it one of the most powerful dramas of the year.
So it was with combined excitement and trepidation that I rented The Place Beyond The Pines, Cianfrance’s latest, starring stalwart Gosling and Bradley Cooper. Hey, Peter Bradshaw had given it four stars: it had to be amazing, right?
A narrative made up of three chronologically depicted strands, we begin with the story of Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling), who upon discovering a baby son Jason (Dane DeHaan) by his ex-lover Romina (Eva Mendes), is keen to win back her affections. So, he does what any of us would do - he begins robbing banks! This ends badly when – spoiler ahead! – he gets shot by a police officer: Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).
The second strand of Cianfrance’s story follows the guilt-ridden Cross who feels he has deprived Jason of a loving upbringing. Fifteen years later, we are onto the third strand: Cross’s son AJ (Emory Cohen) unknowingly befriends Jason. Things don’t go so well but eventually end rather unexpectedly.
Cianfrance is mainly to blame for this feeble cavalcade of incoherent stories that leave us so unsatisfied. A director of his caliber should be aware of the limitations of storytelling: one cannot simply kill off a picture’s protagonist 50 minutes into a film, insert another protagonist into the second act and then casually introduce two more major characters in the final act; oh, and expect us to empathise with each. If a close relationship has not been built up between the audience and a particular character throughout a picture, one’s story inevitably suffers.
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Gosling’s story is easily the most beguiling, however this is only because of his character’s bank heists, which are highly exhilarating to watch. Gosling’s decline as a serious actor is a sad one indeed: as the years have gone past, his acting abilities have taken a turn for the worse. The man who wowed us with Lars and The Real Girl and Blue Valentine, has sunk into a pit of predictable, typecast Hollywood roles where he plays the quiet, contemplative protagonist – think Drive, Crazy Stupid Love and now this – mediocrity at its finest.
A shame really – such potential, such daring, yet so incompetently written. Don’t bother.
Stars - ★★
By Rehan Mudannayake
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
Crime | Drama
A motorcycle stunt rider turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for his lover and their newborn child, a decision that puts him on a collision course with an ambitious rookie cop navigating a department ruled by a corrupt detective.
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Writers: Derek Cianfrance and Ben Coccio
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and Anthony Pizza
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0 Comments
sanju says:
May 28, 2013 at 12:00 amthis is a misleading review.