The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)

All Critics (166) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (134) | Rotten (32)

This naturalistic drama is ambitious to the point of being unwieldy... But once the story has advanced from one generation to the next and its thematic sweep has become apparent, these flaws seem much more tolerable.

April 12, 2013 Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

"Pines" is hardy stuff, but it's at its toughest when Gosling's on screen.

April 12, 2013 Full Review

Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

The Place Beyond the Pines is hackneyed and dull: Not a single moment rings true.

April 11, 2013 Full Review

Rene Rodriguez

Miami Herald

Top Critic

This is a story about legacy, the sins of the father, the restlessness in our souls. It's powerful, it's bold, it hits you hard.

April 11, 2013 Full Review

Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Top Critic

Cianfrance and his sterling cast keep it all together, vanquishing doubt and soap suds. There's a palpable sense of teamwork that brings out the best in all of these players.

April 11, 2013 Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

Its three stories are so loosely connected, its themes so scattered -- morality, justice, fate, fatherhood -- that it never manages to make a point.

April 11, 2013 Full Review

Rafer Guzman

Newsday

Top Critic

It's the interesting characters and their thought-provoking choices that make this film so compelling.

May 8, 2013 Full Review

Matthew Toomey

ABC Radio Brisbane

An ambitious and twisting crime drama about fathers, sons and responsibility.

May 8, 2013 Full Review

Tom Glasson

Concrete Playground

Cianfrance creates a layered and moving portrait of working-class life, of people trying-- in many of the wrong ways-- to improve lives for themselves and the generations to come.

May 7, 2013 Full Review

Katey Rich

CinemaBlend.com

This ambitious tale of tragedy and redemption among fathers and sons is told in three parts and, despite a superb performance from Ryan Gosling, is less than the sum of its parts.

May 7, 2013 Full Review

Simon Weaving

Screenwize

Gosling delivers his most assured performance yet, in an ambitious, near-operatic drama-thriller that boldly unfolds across two distinctly different hours.

May 5, 2013 Full Review

Ed Gibbs

The Sunday Age

With the final act, as we see the longer term impact of earlier actions, the film attains something akin to epic status, stirring notions of classic Greek tragedy before scaling back and completing itself as a contemporary morality tale

May 4, 2013 Full Review

Andrew L. Urban

Urban Cinefile

Mike Patton's grumbling song The Weight of Consequences eloquently reflects the hard-hitting theme of this provocative and gripping film in which three troubled roads are travelled

May 4, 2013 Full Review

Louise Keller

Urban Cinefile

Cianfrance handles these large leaps in time with grace; he doesn't seem to leave anything out. His camera lingers generously over small moments so that no character gets lost in time.

May 3, 2013 Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

The Place Beyond the Pines is a deeply affecting family drama about paternal responsibility, a riveting crime story, a cop movie and a tragedy.

April 29, 2013 Full Review

Stephen Lambrechts

Neon Maniacs

A film of two distinct halves and it works to provide a dual character study of paternity and legacy

April 27, 2013 Full Review

Cameron Williams

The Popcorn Junkie

The most satisfying cinematic experience we've had at the multiplex thus far this year, and largely through its disinterest in playing along with movie trends.

April 26, 2013 Full Review

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews

Not since Steve McQueen has any man looked cooler on a motorbike. Men admire him, women adore him, Ryan Gosling proves again, he is the most dynamic film star working in cinema today.

April 26, 2013 Full Review

Brian Henry Martin

UTV

Great cast but the script meanders and ends up nowhere.

April 25, 2013 Full Review

Jackie K. Cooper

jackiekcooper.com

It allows you to really observe its characters and to ponder the themes that fuel the plot. For that reason, it is a film that makes a deeply emotional impact.

April 24, 2013 Full Review

Mike McGranaghan

Aisle Seat

The mythically tinged final scene brings events full circle in a way that is superficially satisfying while also conceding that the movie's chief concern is men and the art of motorcycle maintenance.

April 22, 2013 Full Review

Ryan Gilbey

New Statesman

"It's up to the actors to figure this out, and they try...but The Place Beyond the Pines displays a strange paternalistic streak."

April 21, 2013 Full Review

Richard von Busack

MetroActive

Dove into deep psychological turf but without coming up with significant insights.

April 21, 2013 Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

By the time director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance gets to the third act, it's a soap opera and not a very good one.

April 20, 2013 Full Review

Gary Wolcott

Tri-City Herald

Gosling and Cooper in a movie? Yeah, you should go.

April 19, 2013 Full Review

Bob Grimm

Tucson Weekly

Pines Intrigues then Pulls its Punches

April 19, 2013 Full Review

Charles Koplinski

Illinois Times

• 1. Luke: He can get his own girl and his own kid. That's every man's right.
  – Submitted by Timothy C (5 days ago)
• 1. Luke: I want to do something with him that's his first time. I'm going to look in his face when he tries ice cream. Every time he has ice cream for the rest of his life, he's going to see my fucking face.
  – Submitted by Julia L (8 days ago)
• 1. Luke: Tell him to get his own girl and his own kid. Every man has that right.
  – Submitted by Leslie P (10 days ago)
• 1. Robin: Got a kid? You wanna provide for that kid? You gotta do that using your skill set. And your skill set? Very unique.
  – Submitted by Michael N (17 days ago)
• 1. Robin: I'm not gonna let you bring us both down.
  – Submitted by Kevin M (25 days ago)
• 1. Luke: Tell him it's from me. I'm still his father; I can give him stuff.
  – Submitted by Emma B (26 days ago)