Review: THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

This is our lightning-fast review of the movie 'THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES'.

*It will be available in the U.S. on DVD on 8/6/13*

This Derek Cianfrance film (for those unfamiliar with his work, he also directed 'Blue Valentine') tells us three different stories:

-'Luke' (Ryan Gosling) is a circus' motorcyclist daredevil. When he arrives at a New York town, he sees Romina (Eva Mendes), a girlfriend he left a year ago and who has a secret: she has a son named 'Jason' and Luke is his father. After finding out that he is now a father, he quits his job at the circus in order to be with both Romina and Jason, and lead a normal life. Unfortunately his financial situation declines rapidly and he becomes a bank robber.

-'Avery Cross' (Bradley Cooper) is a hardworking police officer that wants to climb up in the ranks in his department. After an extraordinary event his life changes and not for the better good. He soon finds himself involved in a world where justice is no longer blind and the men who promised to protect it, abuse and take advantage of it instead.

- We can't tell you about the third story because it would be a huge spoiler. Sorry.

We promised a quick review and we will stick by it.

This film has a very profound and complete story. It takes on highly interesting aspects about the actions and repercussions of it's players.

The casting is full of old and familiar faces. In our opinion, all characters were well played, which is something worthy of appreciation.

Finally, this is a well-told story from beginning to end; it takes its time to make sure the audience understands everything that is going on with both the plot and the characters' emotional ups-and-downs throughout.

Three stories that offer enough variety and correlation between them to create a debate over which one was better.