Cinema Review - The Place Beyond the Pines (15, 140 Mins)

Synopsis: 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.

Verdict: this film may well be one of the best examples of late of a film that has been mis-sold in its marketing, which portrayed it as the Drive/Blue Valentine-esque film that many were expecting. Whilst this may not have been an issue if it was different in a good way, this is majorly flawed. What we have here is a film of three acts - the first based on Ryan Gosling's motorcycle stunt driver, the second on Bradley Cooper's policeman and the third on their two children 15 years later.

The first act is the real strong point here. As ever Ryan Gosling's performance is mesmerising however I am getting the feeling that he's just playing the same role over and over again (socially awkward stunt driver). You really feel heartbroken for his character though as he desperately tries to be a part of his child's life. The bank robbery scenes are very tense and the final payoff has a properly WTH ending that leaves you wondering what could possibly happen next.

After this it all goes downhill. Whilst Bradley Cooper is going from strength to strength he's been given so little to do here that, looking back on his act now a couple of weeks later, very little of it stands out in my mind. The whole crooked cop thing has been done so many times before and without an original twist on the subject, it feels like you've seen it all before. 

The third act is where this film dangerously wavers on the line between artistic indie movie and pretentious nothingness. The main problem is that the two sons are so unlikeable that you don't really care what happens to them. Add on top of that the fact that they were brought together by such random conveniences that it all just seems a bit too ridiculous to ring true. Many people may also disagree with the message this film appears to be trying to put out, that children who don't grow up with their fathers end up being wasters. On the plus side Dane DeHaan proves himself as a rising star.

This was clearly intended to be a performance led film and whilst that works in its favour for the first hour or so, 2 hours and 20 minutes is a stretch too far - especially given that everyone has been given so little to do.

The main flaw with this film is that it starts out so strongly before meandering into such an anti-climax that makes you wonder if such an emotionally draining film was actually worth all the time invested. Ryan Gosling's first act saves it from being a total disaster though.