The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

Crime, Drama, Romance

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Writers: Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, Darius Marder
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Craig Van Hook, Eva Mendes, Olga Merediz

"One moment can change your life."

The Place Beyond the Pines is the second collaboration between director Derek Cianfrance and actor Ryan Gosling, after Blue Valentine.

The movie, designed as a triptych that offers three linked interconnected short stories, is focused on Luke (Gosling), a professional stunt-rider turned bank robber who fatefully decides to commit a crime to suport his child, who crosses paths with Avery (Bradlery Cooper), an inexperienced but ambitious cop, who decides to quit the corrupt police in an attempt to become a district attorney.

It has a powerful story that plays with the fate of its characters and inextricably links the present and the past, fathers and children, under the gray sky and the pine forests of upstate New York.

Plot summary from IMDb: A mysterious and mythical motorcycle racer, Luke, (Ryan Gosling) drives out of a traveling carnival globe of death and whizzes through the backstreets of Schenectady, New York, desperately trying to connect with a former lover, Romina, (Eva Mendes) who recently and secretly gave birth to the stunt rider's son. In an attempt to provide for his new family, Luke quits the carnival life and commits a series of bank robberies aided by his superior riding ability. The stakes rise as Luke is put on a collision course with an ambitious police officer, Avery Cross, (Bradley Cooper) looking to quickly move up the ranks in a police department riddled with corruption. The sweeping drama unfolds over fifteen years as the sins of the past haunt the present days lives of two high school boys wrestling with the legacy they've inherited. The only refuge is found in the place beyond the pines.

Awards: 3 wins & 12 nominations.
Runtime: 140 min
R