The Place Beyond the Pines

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 12th April, 2013
Time : 140 minutes
Director & Writer : Derek Cianfrance; Co-writers : Ben Coccio, Darius Marder; Music : Mike Patton
Starring : Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Mahershala Ali, Ben Mendelsohn, Bruce Greenwood, Emory Cohen, Ray Liotta, Dane DeHaan, Harris Yulin, Rose Byrne



The central theme here is that a man’s legacy (and I’m using the word ‘man’ in a very unisex way here) lives on long after he’s gone. This is a movie split in three distinct halves. The first about Ryan Gosling. The second about Bradley Cooper, who’s life intersects for just a fraction of a life changing moment with Ryan’s. And the third, well, I aint telling…






Ryan is white trash, a daredevil bike rider. Meets a very sexy Eva Mendes, and post a very steamy encounter (which is completely snipped off by our beloved censors), he leaves with his circus to return a full year later. When he reunites with Eva, he feels compelled enough to quit his job and stay back. Doing some odd jobs before, given the lack of money and egged on by his mate, he decides to rob banks.





Bradley Cooper is an ex-law student and a cop, against his influential father, a retired Supreme Court judge’s wishes. Intelligent, charming, articulate, with plans to transform the police force. Likes to play it by the book, do the right thing. But his chance encounter with Ryan changes all that.



Love. Fate. Opportunism. Fatherhood. Corruption. Politics. Marriage. Love. I wish the movie was a bit faster paced. That there was more screen time with Bradley and Ryan together, quite rare that you see two hunks oozing such sex appeal, together. I wish the censors wouldn’t be so childish in ‘A’ rated films. Several times, it felt the movie was about to end, only for it to acquire fresh legs. Several times you felt the film was dragging only to get piqued at a new turn of events.





It’s an interesting premise, told in a strangely disjointed, quiet, understated way. It makes its points in a ruminative, soft-spoken manner rather than the sledge hammer approach more favoured by Indian film makers. However, its possibly precisely because of such a demeanour, parts of the film stay with you, some of the questions it raises, float in your head as you leave the hall. This is one of those films which makes you wonder what you would do in such a situation. Just wish it was put together as a more compelling whole.