A place beyond powerful

You know good cinema when something you watched yesterday stays with you the next day. And the next day. And the day after.
"A place beyond the pines" is a compelling relationship drama about dysfunctional fathers and sons stuck on two sides of a flawed legal system.

Ryan Gosling is pure perfection, leaving you with the kind of restlessness and anxiety you feel while watching brilliant movies with doomed lead characters like those in "Drive" or "The Wrestler".
Bradley Cooper shows us that he's a serious, risk-taking actor after "The silver linings playbook", but Ryan Gosling's performance in the first half is a really tough act to follow.

There are daredevil motorcycle stunts, high-speed car chases and hysterical bank-robbery-gone-wrong scenes that are uncomfortably thrilling, but what haunts you the most is the level of attention to human details in storytelling.
*spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler*
My favorite scenes are Ryan Gosling's phone call before his fatal plunge and Bradley Cooper's visit to the shrink.

Parents(read dads), if you're going to watch one movie in the theater this year, let it be this one. Well this and Iron Man 3. I came home after a late showing of the movie, with a craving to hug my sleeping baby just to make sure he is there. A bold, powerful, hard-hitting movie that every parent will be able to relate to instantly.

What am I doing tonight once I send hubby to watch the movie and put the baby to sleep ? Renting writer-director Derek Cianfrance's last work, the acclaimed "Blue Valentine", also with Ryan Gosling. You can never have too much of a good thing. :)