Review Detail

The Place Beyond the Pines is one of my favorite movies, and when it came out, I watched it a dozen or more times, but it's probably been a couple of years since I last revisited it. I don't have any complaints or issues with the original. It's a spectacular collection of talent making a beautiful piece of art.

I watched this edit last night and didn't miss a single frame, scene, or beat from the theatrical release. Juxtapositing the stories of Luke and his son, Jason, creates new tensions, both narratively and within the characters. Luke's narrative now has an ever-increasing sense of doom, hopelessly wanting to be and do what he is incapable of emotionally and financially. Romina is now a more flawed and complex character who becomes more and more three-dimensional throughout her journey. For Jason, the juxtaposition creates a higher sense of tension and dread. The structural change, collectively, renders a new experience using the same blocks.

The highest praise I can give this edit is that it works just as well as the original. An already absorbing narrative, now compellingly re-structured.

If I were to have any constructive criticism, it would be that the black and white newspaper 'flashback' didn't work for me. I'd move the newspaper shot to the scene when Robin first hands it to Jason instead of using it when Jason sees Avery's photo on the wall in his house. There was no precedence for using this narrative device, and it took me out.

Both the audio and video are top-notch on the version I watched through the issue with the punch-in to create a CU of Avery's photo remains, as noted in dwight-fry's review.

These are both incredibly minor and shouldn't impact anyone's enjoyment of the edit in a significant way.

I highly recommend this edit and look forward to watching more edits from Heavisyde!