All of the ratings of films I've done here have been comparable to those at IMDb - until now. Last night I viewed The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), courtesy of Netflix. For only the second time since I've been a member, I failed to make it through an entire movie. The other was the adaptation of the beloved Rent (2005), which I abandoned after 20 minutes, stunned by the dreadful lyrics, unable to relate to any of the characters. I may have to take another look at it, as I recently enjoyed a song from it broadcast on a web stream. Anyway, back to the film in question. It features the types of characters actors and screenwriters love: a heavily tattooed, chain-smoking miscreant who rides a motorcycle expertly; corrupt cops (in Schenectady -- who knew?); and drug loving teens. The film is divided into those three story lines consecutively, although they are connected. The only thing I liked about it is that the male lead went from one character to another half way through. I don't recall having ever seen that before. I've enjoyed downbeat material in the past, but this seemed cliched and shallow. One of the teens, a gangsta wannabe, was absolutely infuriating. I made it through the first two hours and bailed on the last 20 minutes, sure of where it was going. Even if I'm wrong, I don't want to know what happens. A fine cast -- Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper, Harris Yulin and Ray Liotta, among other familiar faces -- is wasted. I rate it one on a scale of five. The consensus at IMDb completely disagrees, rating it 7.4 of ten. Several contributors thought it was great and, in the commentary section, excoriated those who didn't get it. To my great surprise, the film was successful at the box office, bringing in 23 million on a budget of 15 million. I feel almost traitorous in my contempt, as the director, Derek Cianfrance, who co-wrote the screenplay, and one of the other writers, Ben Coccio, have Italian last names. Fortunately, art is subjective and my opinion is drowned by the majority. That eases my guilt.
It was like early October, great book-selling weather, today in Brooklyn. My thanks to the elderly woman who stopped me and bought two Janet Evanovich thrillers as I was on my way to setting up shop, to the young man who overpaid for Jerry Toner's non-fiction Roman Disasters, to the Russian gentleman who purchased four more novels in his native language, and to Bad News Billy, exhausted after spending the night waiting on a line to buy sneakers, who bought the Modern Pop CD. He was so anxious to go home and get some sleep he hurried away. I can't wait to hear that story.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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