The Place Beyond the Pines

It was different from what I was expecting, but it's incredibly well made, well acted, and tense throughout. It's really original, both in the story structure, and I really had no idea where the narrative was going. I definitely started to feel it's length in the third act though. The last third is good, but it's the most "Hollywood" part of the story...a lot of coincidences to advance the plot. It's not for everyone, but I'd recommend it to the right people. Overall, it's a really good movie, but falls a little flat, fell short of the "epicness" you know they wanted.

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I have a one year old son, so some of the emotions hit really close to home...the scene after Gosling's character gets into the "fight" with Eva Mendes' boyfriend, and he knows he's probably holding his son for the last time as the sirens are in the distance. Damn, that was a powerful shot.

It actually ended "happier" than I thought it would. I was expecting an even bigger stomach punch than the kind of lonely, "will history repeat itself" last shot they left it on.

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I like how it looks and the way it was shot

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Me too. Both of Cianfrance's movies that I've seen have this awesome lived-in, gritty feel to them. Love how he shoots his movies.