The Place Beyond the Pines is adding 26 theaters this weekend for a whopping total of 30 and to get a few more asses in the seats Focus Features has released two new promotional videos. First is the opening tracking shot centered on Ryan Gosling‘s character Luke, a professional motorcycle rider as he enters the “Globe of Death” as director Derek Cianfrance refers to it in the second video, a commentary track over the trailer.
I caught Place Beyond the Pines in Toronto last year and in my review I wrote that I left me “tired and worn weary”. I added that “it revels in despair with no hope at the end of the tunnel. It’s raw, real, downtrodden and forced. Is it good? It’s solid. It’s also too much of a ‘bad’ thing.”
I had a hard time getting beyond the dour nature of the film, which runs for something like 140 minutes long and in discussion with several Seattle press members who have finally seen it they seem to agree, though all of us respect it for its filmmaking and performances.
Along with Gosling, the film co-stars Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes with contributions from Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne, Dane DeHaan, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Mendelsohn and Emory Cohen.
You can read my full review right here, but first you may want to check out the videos below. Perhaps the best part of all of this, for me, was learning how to properly pronounce Cianfrance’s last name.
