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Critics Consensus: Ambitious to a fault, The Place Beyond the Pines finds writer/director Derek Cianfrance reaching for -- and often grasping -- thorny themes of family, fatherhood, and fate.
Critic Consensus: Ambitious to a fault, The Place Beyond the Pines finds writer/director Derek Cianfrance reaching for -- and often grasping -- thorny themes of family, fatherhood, and fate.
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All Critics (210) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (168) | Rotten (42) | DVD (2)
What Cianfrance has written has scraps of surprise and a fine chase sequence, but it doesn't reach for the stars or the emotional cosmos -- or, at least, it doesn't know how to get there.
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.
"Pines" is hardy stuff, but it's at its toughest when Gosling's on screen.
The Place Beyond the Pines is hackneyed and dull: Not a single moment rings true.
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.
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.
A riveting tale of parenting and legacy that spans many years, The Place Beyond The Pines is like three movies in one.
Underneath all the drama, there are glimmers of greatness; but it just doesn't break all the way through.
Though the film does have a few drawn out spots in the last 1/3, it is still one of the more riveting drama's experienced so far this year.
Its themes are familiar - guilt; redemption; manliness; those fraternal sins - but Cianfrance's artistry and the actors' riveting performances hook you in, and may even bring depth.
The Place Beyond the Pines is a film about actions and consequences; it's also a film about fatherhood, fate and second chances.
Juddering shots with muted colours are set against Mike Patton's haunting score, which makes for a dreamy, visually striking film.
Cianfrance puts a lot of effort into generating apprehension, but he is unable to find any direction in this terribly misguided soap opera that relies on an absurd amount of contrived coincidences and is predictable, artificial, unfocused and ultimately pointless.
Super Reviewer
Not just a decent family drama but an unusual look at how the sins of the father reverberate throughout the whole community, and throughout their generations. All of the featured players bring home the bacon but it is Gosling's often silent portrayal of unbearable longing the cinches this baby up quite nicely, devouring the screen.
The connection between the characters is pretty interesting and executed well. Sadly the second half is not quite as engaging as the first, up until the somewhat anti-climatic solution. That may be realistic but feels a bit like the movie was going nowhere. Overall, the great acting and cinematography make it worth your while, though.
The scope of Cianfrance's follow-up to ''Blue Valentine'' may be larger than that film, but the director still has the ability to create engrossing characters and produce outstanding performances from his actors. Gosling gives one of his best performances and Cooper shows why his Oscar nomination for ''Silver Linings Playbook'' was no fluke. The cinematography, editing, music and direction are all pitch perfect but what makes Cianfrance's third feature so special is the themes it tackles and the way Cianfrance chooses to tackle them. There are many opportunities where the film could fall apart but Cianfrance structres the film in very assured fashion and never comes close to losing the audience. ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' is a surprising, sprawling and thought-provoking tale of old and young generations and what happens when certain people's morality is put to the test.
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