Is Focus Features trying to tell us something about Derek Cianfrance‘s “The Place Beyond the Pines“? While Ryan Gosling is credited as the lead, the film has a lot of twists and turns, and Bradley Cooper is featured in most of these new images. This is one that will surprise you.
Our review from the Toronto International Film Festival was glowing. We described Cianfrance’s follow-up to his devastating relationship drama “Blue Valentine” as something completely different; “a searing tale of fathers, sons and the legacy of sins,” in our A-grade review. Maybe even hyperbolically, our man on the ground added, “Cianfrance has now placed himself in the canon of great, contemporary American filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, James Gray, and the Coen Brothers.” That’s not light praise, but the recent trailer has really impressed as well. Here’s the extended synopsis:
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.
“Place Beyond The Pines” also stars Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Dane DeHaan, Bruce Greenwood and newcomer Emory Cohen, who evidently delivers a breakthrough performance. Due March 29 in limited release, perhaps ‘Pines’ will show up at SXSW in March to build a bit more buzz for its theatrical release. A storm’s-on-the-rise teaser poster and new photos below. [via IMDB].