The Place Beyond The Pines Analysis

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Watching a movie with the title such as The Place Beyond the Pines, you might think it is a movie about a forest, a hidden place, or maybe even something lost or forgotten if you really think about it. At least that was what I thought when I first heard of it. In reality, the movie has nothing to with the title at first sight. As you are watching the movie you realize it is about the bond between fathers and sons, and the lengths a man would go to, to provide for his family; “it has a lot to say about class, manhood and the curious operations of fate,” (Scott). The movie is a set of three different stories made and connected into one, where each character is influenced by the others and still manages to keep each story apart from the others. …show more content…

In one of the cities, he has an encounter with an old girlfriend of his, Romina, and later finds out he has a son with her. Seeing the valuable time he lost being away from his baby, Luke decides to quit his job with the carnival and focuses on staying close to home in order to provide for his family. However, the only way he sees he can do this is by robbing a bank. This decision leads to a series of events that set the tone for the rest of the movie. After a couple of bank robberies, Luke’s luck runs out and is killed accidentally by an ambitious, rookie street cop named Officer Avery Cross, which introduces the viewers to the second story in the movie. After Avery accidentally shoots Luke, he is left to deal with a guilty conscience over what really happened. He, however, uses this as a shortcut into a better job which explains how this “second section of the movie is mostly about Avery and his rise to power,” (O’Hehir). After we see Avery get away with the murder, the storyline forwards fifteen years which helps keep the mystery of the movie. The viewers then meet Avery’s son, A.J. and Luke’s son, Jason who are both now sixteen years old. Both of them, without knowing how they are connected through their fathers, develop a brief friendship which gets them both into trouble. when Avery finds out that his son’s new friend is the son of the man he …show more content…

His previous work in Blue Valentine was outstanding in my opinion, a love story that does not end in the usual happily ever after we see in other movies made it unique. The Place Beyond the Pines focuses on a criminal with surprisingly good and touching motive behind his actions which is something that we do not usually see in a movie. As the movie came to an end, I started to wonder, was I the only one who was touched by all their characters and their motives? Well apparently not, Cianfrance was able to take the audience into a deep perspective of each character by giving a brief, but compassionate explanation of where they come from and where they intend to