Ryan Gosling stars in 'The Place Beyond the Pines'
The Place Beyond the Pines
At this point, actor Ryan Gosling and director Derek Cianfrance know each other pretty well. They go back seven years and two films: in 2010, the acclaimed Blue Valentine was released — though Friday Flicks remains convinced it’s not exactly first date material — and now The Place Beyond the Pines is with us. A recent New York Times article revealed that they seemed to be on the same page. Though “they were not exactly finishing each other’s sentences … [they] had clearly settled into an established rhythm.”
Does that established rhythm transfer onto the big screen for a second time? There are three stories in play, taking place over a period of 15 years, starting with Luke (Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider who reconnects with the mother (Eva Mendes) of his child. Then, we meet Avery (Bradley Cooper), a police officer finding it tough to live his life without the specter of his famous politician father looming large. Finally, the film delves into the aftermath of an event that links Gosling and Cooper’s characters.
The critics aren’t unanimous in their judgment. “My admiration for Cianfrance is all the greater for the melodramatic risks he’s willing to take, whether or not every last one of them pays off,” concludes the Daily Telegraph. “Cianfrance generally shows again that he knows how to build immersive characterizations with his actors,” remarks the Hollywood Reporter. But Variety reminds its readers why, in its opinion, The Place Beyond the Pines isn’t a match for Cianfrance and Gosling’s previous collaboration. “Where Blue Valentine succeeded by laying bare elemental human emotions, then scrambling them in a way that felt daring and fresh, The Place Beyond the Pines internalizes much of what the characters are feeling while telling their stories in rote, linear fashion.” And New York magazine concludes that “this nearly two-and-a-half-hour movie feels as if it spread beyond its borders. The Place Beyond the Pines is like a clear-cut forest, full of empty space.”
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The Host
Tagline: You Will Be One Of Us
Not content with inflicting the Twilight Saga on the world, author Stephenie Meyer’s next epic love story, The Host, is now with us. Resistance to her work seems somewhat futile by now, as it’s difficult to escape the massive marketing push surrounding her work no matter what territory you live in. Not for nothing is the movie’s tagline “You Will Be One Of Us.”
Directed by Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca), his protagonist of Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) attempts to look after the people that matter the most to her: Jared (Max Irons), Ian (Jake Abel), her brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury) and Uncle Jeb (William Hurt). What’s giving her and them considerable cause for concern? Only an unseen enemy that threatens mankind by taking over human bodies and erasing memories. Good luck with that.
And good luck with the rest of the reviews improving upon early word. Not one but two writers weigh in at Urban Cinefile. Louise Keller thinks that, “the film is at its most ridiculous when Saoirse Ronan is kissed by Max Irons (Jeremy’s son) and Jake Abel in quick succession in a bid to identify who they are kissing: the girl or the alien who has taken over her body.” And Andrew L. Urban concludes that, “the film is indistinguishable from a lemon, put together by a serial set of errors of artistic judgment.” Meanwhile, Matt’s Movie Reviews believes that, “like everything else brand Stephenie Meyer, The Host is a mostly empty, dull and underwhelming genre re-hash. Here’s praying that poor box office makes it the last of its kind.”
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