MovieChat Forums > The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) Discussion > Ballsiest Movie I Have Ever Seen

Ballsiest Movie I Have Ever Seen

posted 10 years ago by seth-shaw23
16 replies | jump to latest

***Massive spoilers

Ryan Gosling is first billed, put on all the posters and trailers, and then killed less than halfway through. If that's not enough Bradley Cooper, Ray Liotta and two random kids carry it through. The film is marketed as Gosling starring and then completely eliminates him. And it works. Unbelievably good film that is made of 3 barely connected stories. Amazing and totally unexpected. Total risk that actually pays off. Universally underrated.

[–] SamMalone07 9 years ago

100% agree

[–] LordInsect 9 years ago

Very ballsy indeed, great film. Can't think of any other films aside from this and Psycho that actually do something like this, you're led to believe right from the get-go that a specific actor/actress will be the star throughout and then bam. Great stuff.

(Halloween Resurrection pulls the same sh.t, but that movie is ass.)

"Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

[–] Blitzerg 9 years ago

Also agree completely. But I feel like the proper word for this film in particular is Ambitious. That opening tracking shot is f-cking awesome and then we see the 3 motorcyclists fly around in that cage dome. So sick.

A lot of people complain about the change in pace and story but I loved it. It is epic.

It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.

[–] LiquidSpliter 9 years ago

I completely agree. I love this film

[img]http://www.icheckmovies.com/signature/152901/schneider+1001+movies.png[/img]

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] psdhart 9 years ago

good film

[–] looksharp-105-811309 9 years ago

well said everyone! Finally a great post topic on this classic film!

[–] CuriousDan 9 years ago

Usually I am good at guessing which characters get killed during a movie, but this one had me fooled every time. Also, I didn't know it was 2h 20 minutes long, so when I saw "15 years later" I thought it was the end! Despite the length I never got bored. Love slower movies like that.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

Not so ballsy. Besides Psycho mentioned above there are films such as LA Confidential, Pulp Fiction, Executive Decision (quite a famous one), Scream, 15 Minutes etc. where it's been employed before.🐭

[–] sleepingtiger (712) 8 years ago

Also, To Live And Die In L.A.,Horror Hotel and Pitch Black, for examples.

[–] Falconeer 9 years ago

I agree with all that you said, except for the comment about the "3 barely connected stories." The stories and the characters are completely connected, to the point where you can't have one without the other. This is a movie about fate, and how the actions of a couple people can deeply affect so many others, even years later. But yes, this movie is brilliant.

#hands up don't loot

[–] MoviemanCin 9 years ago

Yep.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.

[–] prodigiousone 9 years ago

Yeah, as a previous poster said, it has been done quite a few times before, but it's still pretty surprising when you don't expect it.

"Psycho" threw everyone for a loop when it was new. It's the most famous case of that.

I remember being messed up by "15 Minutes", another underrated one, where you had Robert De Niro as the top marketed and billed star. He even is in nearly every scene for the first 45 minutes or so, then BAM, and the rest of the film is about the two killers he was after, and a young fire marshal who takes up the cause after the surprise twist. It was VERY "Psycho"-like.

And Tarantino just did it again on his latest film, "The Hateful Eight", as well.