Derek Cianfrance wants you to know he is making an epic in every shot of "The Place Between the Pines". From the opening tracking one-shot of Ryan Gosling walking across a crowded carnival to the final shot of a wide-open field with Bon Iver "The Woods" blaring. He wants you to know he has studied filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and a scene that takes place during a baptism feels oddly like a modern day "Mean Streets". He also wants to hammer every single metaphor over your head with a mallet until you are drawn so deeply into his pretty images that you don't notice the hints of sexism and racism sprinkled throughout. He doesn't want you to question if his characters are performing realistic actions in realistic scenarios. He simply wants you to see the "deeper meaning". "The Place Between the Pines", Cianfrance's second film after 2010s infinitely better "Blue Valentine" is a mess. It is a film devoid of characters we care about who are acting in ways that only seem to further along a plot that desperately wants you to care but gives you no real reason to do so.
"The Place Between the Pines" is essentially three interweaving stories told using similar characters. The first (and easily the best story) involves Luke Glanton (Gosling), a carnival stunt bike rider who discovers on one of his visits to upstate New York that a fling he had the previous year with waitress, Romina, (Eva Mendes) produced a son who he didn't know existed. Glanton promptly quits his job and decides he wants to do right by his newfound family. The only way he can provide for his family though is through crime. The second story deals with police officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) who deals with the corruption in his police force. The last story deals with a loner (Dane DeHaan) who develops a friendship with the tough-talking new kid in town (Emory Cohen) that quickly escalates into dangerous territories.
As mentioned earlier, Gosling's chapter is without a doubt the only compelling part of the film. While this is not one of his best performances (he truly needs to trademark his "staring into the world around him with a cold and detached feel" look) this chunk of the film features an interesting story about a man's tumble into crime. It features some truly exhilarating scenes featuring Glanton on his motor-bike that could have easily anchored an entire film. It is in the other parts of the movie where the film falters hard and fast. The Cross part is hackneyed and feels like a bad episode of a television drama. The "corruption on the force" plot angle is so played out by now that we are no longer interested. We are supposed to see their actions and say "For sham!" but in reality we just hope that Ray Liotta leaves the scene shortly. The final part features some of the best acting (Cohen could really do something in the future) but also some of the most thoroughly unbelievable plot developments I've seen in a drama in some time. A character makes such a quick and unexpected turn in their actions that it is almost laughable. We don't know if we should care or count the amount of days in the story that it took a seemingly docile person to become a monster. In the end, we are supposed to care and be impressed by all the inter-connected portions of the film. All I walked away with was boredom over seeing such a masterbatory film and anger that Bon Iver's great song was distilled into something one notch more touching or dramatic than a YouTube video of the song set against pictures of nature.
It can not be said that Cianfrance doesn't know how to make a movie look good. There are some truly inspired shots throughout the film (mostly in the first segment). He uses color well when he isn't simply using it to show the metaphorical bridges between characters ("Do you get it?! They both have extremely blue eyes! Let me even play a song about eyes being blue at the end of the movie!") The way he films the scenes of Gosling's crimes makes one wonder what he could have done just taking that character and creating a 90 minute film with it. By the end though, he has completely turned the audience against him. While it is never boring, it simply is disappointing and wants to congratulate itself at every turn. "Blue Valentine" was a mostly understated (if not slightly melodramatic) story that felt like something that could happen in real life. "The Place Between the Pines" feels like a story that could only exist in a novel with characters who are more caricatures than real human beings.
Upon leaving the theater, I heard groups of unhappy couples. One man even said "Well... you picked this one!" on his way out. This film will no doubt draw in viewers because of the pairing of Gosling and Cooper. It will also no doubt disappoint them heavily. Hopefully Cianfrance's next film is dialed down although I have no real hope that will happen. Like Gosling's character, it wants to do extremely elaborate high-speed tricks that serve no real purpose and you will forget them as soon as you walk to the next text.
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