The Place Beyond The Pines (2012, dir. Derek Cianfrance) ****/****

    Derek Cianfrance's "The Place Beyond The Pines" is a film in three acts, covering the lives of different characters in each.  It is a highly ambitious film and deals with ambition itself.  It is a working-class drama that asks questions about the nature of poverty and the lengths that a man will go to to provide for his loved ones.
    Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a skilled and talented motorcycle driver and he uses his skills in his profession.  In an opening tracking shot we slowly follow Luke as he walks through a fairground to a tent where he will perform death-defying moves within an enclosed, globed cage at high velocity.  This opening shot announces that this will be no ordinary film and that we are in for an epic, extraordinary experience.
   Later we learn at the same time as Luke that he has a recently-born son with a girl he had a fling with about a year ago, Romina (Eva Mendes).  He decides to stick around and care for his son and the mother in any way he can.  Unfortunately, he resorts to robbing banks to bring in the necessary funds.  The ensuing motorcycle-police car chases that occur are jaw-droppingly exciting and expertly directed.
   In the second act we join the life of Avery (Bradley Cooper) a police officer who also has a newborn son.  There is police corruption surrounding Avery and he must do what he can to avoid being involved in it.  At the same time he has vaulting ambition which gives him the desire to become a district attorney.
   The final act takes place fifteen years after the initial acts of the film and we are lead into the lives of the two men's teenage sons.  Somehow, their lives become intertwined and the tension and complications that arise from their coming together is the subject of this third act.  Both children are victims of absentee fathers for different reasons.
   Everything about this film is compelling and will keep your eyes glued to the screen.  The acting is great, the chase scenes are tense and exciting, and soundtrack is highly evocative and beautiful.   Your expectations are constantly thwarted.  It says a lot  about what society deems good or evil and lengths that people will go to to make ends meet.  It is one of the best films I've seen to come out in 2013.