◄ 

Critic Reviews

68

Metascore

Based on 42 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com
100
The music, the cinematography, the acting choices, the daring plot leaps - not a single element is timid or safe...The Place Beyond the Pines earns every second of its 140-minute running time.
88
A riveting crime thriller, it's also a multi-generational familial saga that approaches Greek tragedy.
88
This is a story about legacy, the sins of the father, the restlessness in our souls. It's powerful, it's bold, it hits you hard.
75
It's a beast of a movie, an emotional roller coaster that threatens to go off the rails, and does. But Cianfrance, working from a scrappy script he wrote with Ben Coccio and Darius Marder, takes you on a hell of a ride.
70
Cianfrance generally shows again that he knows how to build immersive characterizations with his actors. And while this sorrowful triptych is uneven and perhaps overly ambitious, the director displays a cool mastery of atmospherics and tone.
70
One-third wonderful, The Place Beyond the Pines weakens as it unfolds for lack of what makes the early part so good.
63
It's very much a film about men, their yearnings and discontents, and about the way sins tumble down from one generation to the next. It's a bank-robber movie, too, as well as a drama about the pressures teenagers face from parents and peers. You can feel Cianfrance biting off more and more until his mouth is too full to chew.
60
The poetry in The Place Beyond the Pines can be elusive, but also easy to get lost in.
50
It's a slow-burner that burns so slowly its wick completely fizzles out.
50
Too much of this seething drama is devoted not to characterization but to posturing.
See all 42 reviews on Metacritic.com

More Critic Reviews

See all external reviews for The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) »

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Reviews | User Ratings | External Reviews | Message Board