The Place Beyond The Pines – The First Shot Fired
This is probably the most obvious entry on the list, as the nature of the movie is undeviating drama and the unethical moment itself is the basis for what becomes a whole unfolding storyline. But there are two reasons for including it as a ‘surprise’ unethical moment. The first is that the moment truly does come as a surprise – as much to the character/s as to the audience. The second is that unlike supporting the concept that unethical things can sometimes be justified as long as they prevent something else that would be even more unethical, The Place Beyond the Pines aims to demonstrate exactly how dire the consequences can be from even the shortest lapse in morality.
Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) is a motor-cycle stuntman who has started robbing banks in an attempt to provide for his newly discovered infant son. While being chased down by the police after a bank-job, Glanton comes off his motorbike and takes cover in a nearby house, into which he is pursued by rookie cop, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper). Cross discovers that Glanton is hiding in an upstairs bedroom, and breaks into the room to see Glanton sitting on the windowsill. Pausing no more than a couple of seconds, Cross shoots Glanton, who only then shoots at Cross (hitting him in the leg), as he falls backwards from the window to the ground below.
With the brief shooting itself coming out of nowhere, we have a perfect example of how a movie can use just one moment to play out a message that will fundamentally alter both the characters’ lives, and the entire course of the film. Whatever Glanton had done, there was no mistaking that in that moment the policeman shot him first and without provocation – and the significance of that fact is brought well and truly to light when Cross lies when questioned about the events, and states that Glanton fired the first shot. But it is mainly in retrospect that we see just how shocking Cross’s action was; although he initially accepts the praise for bringing Glanton down, his inability to handle the painful parallel between Glanton’s baby son and his own – and the contrast between Cross and Ray Liotta’s corrupt cop Deluca – show that Cross was not the sort of man to shoot first and ask questions later, at least not at heart. His actions were the result of being over eager and probably nervous, yet the effects were to reach into the future in ways he could not possibly have imagined.