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Beautiful Performance in Place Beyond the Pines..Despite no1 liked 'AJ'


I saw this movie again, and realized how raw his performance was as AJ. Initially, when viewing the film I was slightly biased and didnt like the character of AJ but the protrayal of him was very beliveable. I dont know how many actors could pull of the thug/young baby brando persona. He has deepness to him that comes out on screen as if he thinks about each nuance or feeling that the character has. You can def tell he took time to think about AJ as a person and research his point of view. I def would put him as a top performer in the film along with Bradley Cooper, Ben Mendelson

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He's from New York City, so I wonder how much hanging out he did with the thugs.

Because his portrayal of a white kid obsessed with hip hop and does drugs was spot-on and authentic. There was no pretending there. I think that could have contributed to why a lot of caucasian audiences didn't "get it" and disliked his character. And, that's partly why he's been criticized for a "bad performance" when he actually nailed the role.

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he was awesome

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Im surprised everyone said the third part was the worst part of the film. When i saw the film again i think the young actors fleshed out and brought so much meaning to the story. After pbytpines i netflixed Emory cohen and saw him also in "afterschool" ...totally diff persona but similar accent

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I agree, I thought he was fantastic.

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he was good... I think someone's first impression of someone who is breaking beyond borders, is to hate on it... but once i realized i was hating on him, i realized he was good, and he had my respect. job well done.

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Yup his performance in this movie was remarkable....loved him.

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This kid hands-down gives the most natural performance of the movie - even more than the old bank robber guy. Anyone who says they don't like his performance, clearly haven't hung around youth thugs before... and not wannabe thugs, but really gritty people. You can't fake what he did in the movie, he's been around it in his life, seen it with his own eyes.

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