I was really
excited to see this one. The hype about it contributed, as did the presence of
Ryan Gosling. Ok, ok, having Bradley Cooper around didn’t hurt either… Social
media outlets are full of the film these days, especially since its recent
release on DVD so I knew it was going to be good. I also knew a major plot
twist. Yes, one wrong search and bam. The internet is full of spoilers. Don’t
worry though – this review isn’t. It really isn’t. But anyway, I was slightly
worried that knowing afore-mentioned plot twist was going to kind of ruin the
film for me. In fact, finding this plot twist in certain circles is so easy you
may well know what I’m talking about. Let me assure you whole-heartedly that
that little kernel of information, while key, is not so much the end but the
beginning. So even if you do stumble across it by mistake, all you lose is a tiny
bit of shock value. The rest of the film is so chock-full of awesomeness that it
more than compensates for that… Seriously.
Luke (Ryan
Gosling) is a motorcycle rider at a fair. Doing shows on his bike is just about
all he’s good at – well that, and getting into trouble. But boy is he good with
his bikes. He lives a pretty carefree life with no major attachments of any
kind, traveling with the show from town to town. It is on these travels that he
runs into Romina (Eva Mendes), an old flame of his; one of those girls that was just a
little more special than the rest… Romina is not only special, but she drops a
bombshell on him. She has a son. It’s his. Jason is not a little scared by this
news, but he reacts in a way that you might not expect him to – Romina definitely
doesn’t expect it at any rate. He stays. He is determined to be a part of his
son’s life and provide for him. This is touching but not a little awkward as
Romina has a steady partner, Kofi, who is already the surrogate father figure
for baby Jason. Well, that and the fact that Luke has turned up out of the blue
after almost a 2 year absence. There is another flaw in Luke’s plan. How is a
man who has only ever done shows on a bike for a living going to provide for a
family? Luke decides to do the one thing we all joke about but mercifully few
of us do : he decides to rob a bank. This decisions entwines his fate with that
of Avery (Bradley Cooper), a young lawyer turned policeman working the beat in the same town.
The conflict will have a knock on effect on their lives, and the lives of every
single person around them in ways neither of them could have possibly imagined…
Now, this
is a very tough film to review without giving away spoilers. But I’ll tell you
this much, the way ideas and conflicts are handed down through the generations,
the way conscience comes into play all reminded me of one of those beautiful
old 19th century stories . It seems to be just poor folk out in the
sticks, but we actually ask ourselves truly philosophical questions. What is
good? What is bad? And most importantly, how much confidence should we have in
the surface level labels people have? When a bank robber and a police officer
are “duking it out”, we assume the police officer is “the good guy”, this film
asks us “Really? Every single time?” Another thing we realise is that more
often than not, the things that truly matter are handed down through the
generations, though families. It is sort of comforting to think of a
thread linking us to people in our
family past who we have never actually met, linked to us through a talent, an
attitude, a like or dislike… It almost makes up for never having met those
folks… Almost…
Lastly I
just want to mention that the film is beautifully shot, in addition to that
the choice of location , wherever it may be, is superb. I loved the beautiful
longshots of Luke riding through the pines mentioned in the title of the film.
By the way, if you’re wondering what in the world the film has to do with the
pines mentioned in the title, trust me, the place beyond the pines is a key
location in the narrative. You’ll just have to watch the film and find out why
though…
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