The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) Review

Directed by

Derek Cianfrance

If you are discouraged by the lack of good movies in theaters in the first few months of the year, then seek out this miraculous little movie by Derek Cianfrance, the director of Blue Valentine. Most movies like this get such a small run at the major theaters that they simply do not get the audience that it deserves. Against the odds, this one actually has gotten a semi-wide release and top 10 weekend box office ranking, so everyone will have the opportunity to see this astonishing little film in its rightful format: on the big screen with a crowded audience.

The movie’s plot is one that is almost not worth mentioning, due to the inevitable accidental spoilers that might occur, so I will try to be as vague as possible. There are three storylines going on. One is about Luke (Ryan Gosling), a motorcycle stunt driver who begins to use his skills for crime to provide for his former girl (Eva Mendes) and their infant son. His story collides with Avery (Bradley Cooper), a rookie cop and son of a legendary one, who gets tangled in crimes way above his pay grade. Both of these characters have strong affiliations within the story of AJ (Emory Cohen) and Jason (Dane Dehaan), two high school junkies struggling through life due to a lack of strong father figure in their lives. That is essentially what the movie is about: fathers and sons. It is about how mistakes of fathers lead to the shaping of the life and character of their sons.

 

Now, hearing that plot description, it would be easy to assume that this is some interconnecting story drama about fate, much like Babel, 21 Grams, Crash, or any other indie film in the last 15 years looking to find an easy audience. This is not one of those movies. The screenplay by Cianfrance, collaborating with Ben Coccio and Darius Marder, is a marvel. It would have been so easy to mess this up, make it ordinary, or turn it into a genre picture. It is unlike anything I have ever seen. I cannot even put into words what this movie is able to accomplish. It has some breathtaking sequences, some disturbing scenes, and never a wasted moment. From the moment the movie started, with an extended tracking shot that Martin Scorsese would be proud of, until the lyrical, beautiful last shot of the movie, my eyes were glued to the screen. I cannot say that about any movie I have seen in a long time.

I really do mean that there is not a wasted moment in the movie. Once the story focus shifts to the next main character, the transition is seamless. It does not feel episodic or manipulative. It is edited flawlessly, even though the audience is well aware of its running time approaching 140 minutes. I have never seen a movie like this where each segment is almost in a different genre. This only adds to the appeal and authenticity of the film. I could have sat there and watched these characters go about their lives for another three hours. I was completely locked in. Cianfrance has a way with letting his actors make the scene however they want. It has imperfections, just like life has. It is not exactly Blue Valentine when there was one take done and the actors were basically being chronicled in a documentary-style experimental film. This movie has a much thicker plot, and it is as engrossing and fascinating as any picture I have seen in a year.

The reason why many will see this movie is Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, who do not disappoint. Gosling gives another form of his Drive character and gets lost in his role. Cooper gives his best performance ever. Eva Mendes is her at her most believable, and the underused Rose Byrne does a great job. Ray Liotta is typecast, but he does his thing. Ben Mendelsohn is fantastic again. He is becoming one of my favorite under-the-radar supporting guys. The movie’s biggest surprise is the work of the two younger actors. Dane DeHaan is having an incredible couple of years, and he may well be an Oscar nominee in the near future. He has this constant intensity in his face that I can only describe as being Michael Shannon-like. Emory Cohen comes on screen and immediately leaves an impression. Keep an eye on those two.

If I were to put a label on this movie, I would say it is a bit like Drive, with dashes of The Wrestler, The Son of No One, and certainly some Cop Land. It is a crime thriller and a devastating drama. It is a character study and a powerful statement about fathers and sons. It has epic ambition with a feeling of being very low-key. It has something for everyone. I hate using this term because it is thrown around so loosely, but this really is a masterpiece. It is a virtual lock for my year-end top 10 list. It is about as good as any first quarter of the year release that I have seen. Clear your schedule and go see this.

Rating: 4 stars

 

Holy Motors (2012) Review

Directed by Leos Carax

First off, this will not be a traditional review. This is not a traditional movie and writing a typical five paragraph-type review about it would be almost a waste of time and would write it off as being comparable to usual movies. This is something that is almost not even a movie, more like a series of images and mini-sketches that are put together with very little (or just mostly incomprehensible) plot. It is an experience and one that I haven’t been able to get out of my head for the past two days. It is just floating around in there, urging me to take another ride with it.

I suppose that at its base, the movie is about a man named Oscar (the incredible, Oscar-deserving Denis Lavant), who rides around in a limo going to several “meetings”. This is supposedly his job, and these meetings are really him becoming a different person and living as that person for a period of time. At least I think that is what it is about. It would be almost impossible to spoil the movie because the movie is the experience, and talking about any part of the plot would be very general because the plot is obviously not the driving force of the movie. It is almost an anthology-type film, one that is separated into episodes, each one connected, but not having to do with, the previous one. Usually these movies come off as very on-the-surface, like Paris, je Taime, Stories of Lost Souls, or Coffee and Cigarettes. Some episodes work, some do not. This one is different. There were episodes where I thought, “Wow, this is amazing!” or “What the hell am I watching?” or “That is so clever!” Many times, all three of those at the same time. The movie is simultaneously brilliant, exhausting, spellbinding, repulsive, beautiful, tragic, and hilarious.

You will know whether you will like the movie in the first five minutes (or probably from the trailer). The opening scene has a man (only in this scene), who wakes up in his bedroom and opens a secret pass way in his wall with his finger being the key. He wanders into a movie theater where there is a dog and a young child (never explained) walking up and down the aisle. Then the screen cuts to Oscar, and he is in the rest of the movie. The WTF thoughts were rampant in my head, but it had my attention after that.

 

There is literally a scene where Oscar (dressed as a Leprecaun/caveman, photo below) kidnaps a model (Eva Mendes) and takes her down into his sewer and eats her hair as well as the contents of her purse before falling asleep on her lap. I was just watching this, not knowing what to think or even if I should think. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. It was hypnotic in a way that I have not really experienced before. So much of the movie feels like this. Whether he is a dying old man, a hitman (the best segment, if I had to choose one), or a father picking his daughter up from a party, the movie delivers a rhythmic and subtle atmosphere that that will have the audience glued to whatever screen they have the pleasure of viewing it on.

The movie is just a mind trip that completely got me. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. Watching it, I didn’t exactly feel like I was watching a masterpiece, but it absolutely burns in the memory. It has been stuck in my mind for an extended period of time now, reminding me of some of those haunting images or how cool individual segments were or how strange the ending was. What was the ending anyway? What is the movie trying to say? I have a couple theories, but it is one of those ambiguous endings where nothing is really explained and any theory would seem perfectly legitimate. If I had to compare this movie to anything, it would probably be like Cosmopolis meets Mulholland Dr. meets The Game meets After Hours. But nothing like any of those. You will know why I chose those after you watch it, if you ever do. I do not really expect this write-up to encourage anyone to see it or avoid it. I just needed to write something down in hopes that I can move on so I can actually enjoy the next movie I watch without this movie reminding me of what movies are truly capable of doing. It is almost like I am Cameron Crowe after watching Open Your Eyes, which forced him to remake the movie to get it out of his head.

Am I really this easy? A movie that may just exist to mess with my mind ends up being the most unforgettable movie-going experience of the year? Really, I am asking, because I don’t know. Or is this just saying something about where I am as a movie-goer right now? My number one of 2011 was Margaret, a movie of huge ambitions and huge flaws, but it was so crazy and original that I could not place a near-perfect movie like Drive above it. Now in 2012, I have a few really solid, fantastically written movies in my top five, but a movie with the shameless ambiguity and insanity of Holy Motors may actually claim my top spot? Maybe I am just getting to that point where I need something stimulating and something that I haven’t seen before to really blow me away. I was waiting for more than two months into 2013 to finally find a single one of those for 2012, and I thought it may have been This Is Not a Film, but no. It is Holy Motors.

This movie may not be your thing. I don’t even think it is my thing. I am not even sure it is anyone’s thing. But it is a hallucinatory trip that took me places I have never gone watching a movie. I say it was worth it. Will you?

Rating: 4 stars

Ok, who else has seen this? Anyone? I know it was atop a bunch of critic lists, so I am sure it is not too obscure. Thoughts? Comments? Theories? Discuss!!!