Characters of The Place Beyond The Pines

The Place Beyond the Pines, why do you make me feel sick to my stomach? To clarify, that's a good thing since I can't remember the last time a film moved me so deeply. And that's due to the characters. They are human beings with emotions, flaws and independent thoughts. Not words that actors speak after learning them from a piece of paper. Every time I go to the cinema and I see the trailer I get a bit teary in the eyes. From a freakin' trailer...

I chose the most important characters to analyze and explain. I also want to say that I was most impressed by the cast and can't name anyone who would have let the film down in any way. But be warned, make sure you've seen it before you read it because it contains spoilers! 

Luke

portrayed by Ryan Gosling

    Ryan Gosling seems to be playing the same parts again and again. But he does it so well. The mysterious man whose past is equally mysterious suddenly wants to take care of a girl and a baby and takes part of a bank robbery. *cough*Drive*cough*. But when Gosling's character in Drive was quite emotionless and distant then Luke had a more softer side and was less calculated. And didn't crack anyone's skull open with a wrench. The scene in the church - breaks my heart. He eventually did the best that he knew to do and failed. The choices he made basically decided the lives of Avery, Jason and AJ. 

    This makes me think of options and whether we have any. I don't mean fate. Fate is something set by God, Universe or whatever floats your boat. I'm talking about how things go without having any control over it. Ultimately events like that are game-changers. Luke didn't decide to have a kid. It happened. It was in his nature to want to take care of Jason. Not a choice. Well his decision was influenced by the fact that he grew up without a father. Robbing banks was just an unavoidable action that was conditioned by the circumstances. Yes, we could now argue that what I'm describing is fate. But then... Don't we decide our fate for ourselves? How can we when we don't get to choose? 

   Where I'm getting at... Luke was a victim of life. We can't judge him for trying to be a good father. But the attempt of doing so affected people who never even met him.

Avery

portrayed by Bradley Cooper

    Avery might as well be the most conflicted character I've seen in a long time. Bradley Cooper did him justice in every way. He starts out as a rookie cop who happens to have a law degree and happens to be at the wrong place at a wrong time thus he encounters Luke. They are in the same room for about three seconds but those seconds decide the life of both... Or the death. 

    Avery makes a mistake that comes from being inexperienced. He kills a man, leaves a son without his father just because he couldn't handle a situation. Then invades the personal space of Luke's family, though at first unknowingly. Later he tries to make it up. Fails. And so he lives with a burden that ruins the relationship with his wife and son. He learns how the men he counted as friends were stealing and how the so called higher power did nothing to make it right. 

    Avery had a good relationship with his father. Eventually he even took his father's advice to tackle politics. It was almost ironic as he was giving speeches about "doing the job" and putting bad guys away when he hated himself for killing Luke. 

   The biggest conflict for Avery was the label he was getting everywhere - hero. He was called a hero when he had shot a man to death and left a small boy without his father and feel as an outsider. Luke was counted as a regular low-life criminal who had it coming for him when he was only trying to provide for his son. The world is not black and white, turns out.

   The son of Avery, AJ, also suffered. Avery could not stand to look at his son anymore as he felt the guilt inside burning with injustice. Why should AJ have a father when Jason wouldn't? So he distanced himself.

    As The Place Beyond The Pines left a lot of questions in the air it did solve one problem. They gave Avery his chance to apologize. In the middle of the woods, on his knees, tears falling from his eyes, he said the words that would change the course of Jason's, AJ's and his own life. 

Jason 

portrayed by Dane DeHaan

    He was the boy who didn't know who he was before he knew who was his father. He was lonely, a misfit and seemingly always the odd one out. So much like his father.

    I do think that Jason is the prime example of lack of choice in life. Despite the best efforts from his mother and Kofi he still ended up on the path that might have always been intended for him. Rash boy as he was, it was destined for him to be troubled. Might it have been and his father had lived, he would have been on the other side of the fence. On the side where he wouldn't have threatened anyone with a gun and would have considered his options more rationally. Yet he wasn't. He put a gun to a hero's and politician's head and probably would have killed him. He would have. It's difficult to understand an action so... mad. Did he consider it as revenge?

    Dane DeHaan might just be the new Jack Nicholson. The layer of emotions this boy is able to project in a single shot is admirable. I can't say Jason will be the role he will be remembered after though. 

AJ

portrayed by Emory Cohen

     AJ might be the biggest victim here. It wasn't his father who robbed banks. His father was a hero who couldn't just stand to look at his son the same way anymore because of the guilt. Growing up with the distant father AJ was destined to get in trouble. Get in with the wrong crowd. At one point he even displayed his aggression that was due to, most probably, his father. Even though Jason didn't grow up with his biological father he always had Kofi, who filled the role the best he could. In contrast, Avery as the biological father, might have been less of a dad than Kofi was. So here comes out a kid who looks up to his father, hoping to get some attention and not getting what he's doing wrong. 

     Emory Cohen did a performance that didn't stand out due to the subtlety of it all. It was only the

 second time around when I noticed how well he captured the essence of the environment and reflected it. I also noticed this strange controversy where AJ was more like Luke was. More macho yet emotional. While Jason seemed to be more similar to young Avery - bit the odd one out. 

Robin

portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn 

    Robin was the character closest to a real person. He lied, told stuff the way it suited him but at the same time he had a big heart and a simple mind that made me appreciate him. He was also more than a simple mechanic. He knew exactly when to stop with the bank robbing business - he was smart. That didn't stop him from making stupid decisions though. Like cutting up Luke's bike. 

    I found it interesting that after many years he considered Luke his friend. Even after Luke put a gun in his mouth. 

    I'd like to see a backstory to Robin. How he ended up where he was and why he was that way. It would make an interesting story to see. 

written by Benni