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(More customer reviews)Perhaps more than any other film in 2010, I have eagerly anticipated the arrival of "Blue Valentine." After superlative press at Sundance, the film fell into the most ridiculous and unnecessary scandal of the year when the MPAA branded the movie with a NC-17 rating. A film filled with grown-up emotions and intimacies, "Blue Valentine" is an unlikely target for such a rating (in an era filled with movies of extreme violence, gore, and much more nudity) other than the fact that "Blue Valentine" feels so extraordinarily real. Luckily, the rating was rightfully overturned so the picture could enjoy a wider release and the benefits of a more extensive advertising campaign. "Blue Valentine" is a sophisticated and smart entertainment for adult audiences brought to realistic fruition by the stellar Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Naturalistic and utterly believable, rarely has a film been able to dissect a relationship with such savvy attention to detail.
You might have heard that "Blue Valentine" is a story about the dissolution of a relationship, about a couple growing apart. I would contend, however, that it is instead a contemporary love story. Set in alternate timelines, "Blue Valentine" charts Gosling and Williams both at the beginning of their courtship as well as when their marriage is nearing an end. Shot in an easy improvised style, the earlier moments have charming tenderness while the later segments have a quiet poignancy and sadness. Instead of opting for big scenes and pinpointing singular causes, "Blue Valentine" simply has our couple drifting down different paths. Neither is the particular cause of the estrangement, but Williams pulls back emotionally as Gosling holds on frantically. Both want what's best for each other and their daughter, although they no longer see eye to eye about what that is. Truthful, excruciating, and intimate--"Blue Valentine" plants us in the middle.
Gosling and Williams are, in a word, extraordinary. I have, for many years, declared Ryan Gosling perhaps the best actor of his generation. Ever since he burst onto the film scene in the controversial "The Believer," Gosling has eschewed being a mainstream "star." Heck, after "The Notebook," another actor might have taken a very different career path. But Gosling, despite a couple of disappointing forays into big budget Hollywood, has remained true to his indie roots. And Williams has left her "Dawson's Creek" past way behind her as she continues to choose interesting and meaningful projects. They work off each other with ease. The film was improvisational in nature and many scenes are made real by Williams and Gosling playing off one another extemporaneously. Now that's true indie cinema!
Anyone who's been in a relationship and/or a break up will be able to identify with the inherent realness behind "Blue Valentine." There are little moments of silliness, big moments of anger, and everything in between. "Blue Valentine" expertly juxtaposes the different stages of this coupling and the results are both terrifically funny and awesomely sad. Pretty much like life itself, huh? A great modern romance about breaking up, "Blue Valentine" is easily one of the year's least contrived and most heartfelt films. And it contains two of the year's best performances! About 4 1/2 stars--rounding up for Gosling and Williams. KGHarris, 1/11.
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Blue Valentine (2010)Blue Valentine is the story of love found and love lost told in past and present moments in time. Flooded with romantic memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in this honest portrait of a relationship on the rocks.
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