"The film depicts a married couple, Dean Pereira (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy Heller (Michelle Williams), shifting back and forth in time between their courtship and the dissolution of their marriage several years later. Dean is a young high school dropout, working for a New York City moving company. Cindy is a medical student living with her unhappy parents and caring for her grandmother in Pennsylvania. They meet by chance and fall deeply in love in a matter of weeks. They rush into marriage after discovering Cindy is pregnant from a previous boyfriend, Bobby (Mike Vogel). The story of their courtship is inter cut with one disastrous weekend near the presumed end of their marriage. Dean is painting houses while Cindy works as a nurse and they care for their young daughter in rural Pennsylvania. In the hope of resurrecting their troubled relationship, Dean brings Cindy to a tacky romantic motel where they only fight more, and Cindy is called away in the middle of the night to work at the hospital. Dean shows up at the hospital angry, leading to a violent altercation which seems to doom their relationship and make divorce inevitable."
4.5 out of 5 stars
Now, this is what you call a rare and beautiful blend of powerful acting and inspired movie making. Blue Valentine will be one of the best movies you will see this year and, if it isn’t, please let me know what kind of stuff you’re watching because I'm going to need to accompany you to a few flicks.
This is the type of film that should garner your respect for the sheer fact that it gives you respect in return. Unlike most of your mainstream love stories that have to cater to the dumbest of movie goers, this film trusts that the viewer is smart enough to figure out some things on their own. At times, a simple look is more than enough to convey to the audience what a character would normally have to actually say out loud. And the transition between scenes is peppered with just enough subtle hints to help the audience realize what may have just happened or where the character is coming from. You really do have moments where you forget you are watching a film and, instead, feel like you are sitting in the character’s living room watching their actual lives fall apart.
Truthfully, I haven’t seen Brokeback Mountain or Shutter Island, so I may be coming late to the party on this one. But, Michelle Williams has some legit dramatic acting chops, way more than I would have initially expected. I already knew this was true of Ryan Gosling (just see Lars and the Real Girl or Half Nelson). But she has absolutely no problem going toe to toe with her formidable co-star and, at times, making him blink first.
I should also take this opportunity to forewarn all the ladies out there, who seem to be so infatuated with Mr. Gosling, about his physical appearance. The film’s framing device is a constant switch back and forth from the beginning of the couple’s relationship to (what would appear to be) the probable end. Now, the reason that this may surprise a few of you, is that the makeup artists obviously aged him a few years with the help of a receding hair line and the addition of a few extra pounds. It isn’t something so drastic that it takes you out of the movie, but his multi-toned, 80s style sunglasses in the later scenes definitely make him border on child molester status.
But back to the framing device. The director does an absolutely phenomenal job of moving back and forth between the time lines sparingly at first and then dialing up the frequency gradually as the tension escalates to a fevered pitch. By juxtaposing the time lines of these two immeasurably different points in their relationship, the director is able to give the audience a much more well-rounded and in-depth look at the characters. They, just like all of us, are flawed and somewhat damaged individuals. Sure, at the beginning of any relationship, things are wonderful and exhilarating. But what happens when we go past the point where most movies end? What happens after Richard Gere climbs up the fire escape to get Julia Roberts? What happens after Tom Hanks meets Meg Ryan at the top of the Empire State Building?
Sure, we want to hope that they lived happily ever after, but life isn't always a fairy tale. In fact, most of the time it's far from it. What this movie does is present a look at two people who found each other at a point in their lives where they each had substantial emotional emptiness that only the other person could fill. Does that connection alone create a strong enough foundation for a marriage to be built upon? Probably not. But is the relationship still an important one worth having? Absolutely. At its core, this movie is just a raw, poignant look at two people who may have been right for each other at one time, but sadly may not be right for each other for all time.
But back to the framing device. The director does an absolutely phenomenal job of moving back and forth between the time lines sparingly at first and then dialing up the frequency gradually as the tension escalates to a fevered pitch. By juxtaposing the time lines of these two immeasurably different points in their relationship, the director is able to give the audience a much more well-rounded and in-depth look at the characters. They, just like all of us, are flawed and somewhat damaged individuals. Sure, at the beginning of any relationship, things are wonderful and exhilarating. But what happens when we go past the point where most movies end? What happens after Richard Gere climbs up the fire escape to get Julia Roberts? What happens after Tom Hanks meets Meg Ryan at the top of the Empire State Building?
Sure, we want to hope that they lived happily ever after, but life isn't always a fairy tale. In fact, most of the time it's far from it. What this movie does is present a look at two people who found each other at a point in their lives where they each had substantial emotional emptiness that only the other person could fill. Does that connection alone create a strong enough foundation for a marriage to be built upon? Probably not. But is the relationship still an important one worth having? Absolutely. At its core, this movie is just a raw, poignant look at two people who may have been right for each other at one time, but sadly may not be right for each other for all time.
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