Blue Valentine (2010)

The film centers on a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.

Director:

Derek Cianfrance

Writers:

Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis,

Stars:

Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Faith Wladyka

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Gosling	...	Dean
Michelle Williams	...	Cindy
Faith Wladyka	...	Frankie
John Doman	...	Jerry
Mike Vogel	...	Bobby
Marshall Johnson	...	Marshall
Jen Jones	...	Gramma
Maryann Plunkett	...	Glenda
James Benatti	...	Jamie
Barbara Troy	...	Jo
Carey Westbrook	...	Charley
Ben Shenkman	...	Dr. Feinberg
Eileen Rosen	...	Mimi
Enid Graham	...	Professor
Ashley Gurnari	...	Checker

Storyline

Dean Pereira and Cindy Heller Pereira are a young, working class married couple - Dean currently working as a painter, and Cindy working as a nurse in a medical clinic - with a young daughter named Frankie. Despite their relatively tender ages, they are both ravaged by the life they've eked out together and by the experiences they've had leading into their marriage. Dean, a high school drop out, comes from a broken home, where he never really had a mother figure. He never saw himself getting married or having a family despite falling in love at first sight with Cindy. He doesn't have any professional ambition beyond his current work - which he enjoys since he feels he can knock off a beer at 8 o'clock in the morning without it affecting his work - although Cindy believes he has so much more potential in life. Cindy also comes from a dysfunctional family, with her own mother and father not setting an example of a harmonious married or family life. One of her previous serious ...

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | nurse | dysfunctional family | falling in love | love | 

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Taglines:

Nobody Baby But You And Me.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R on appeal for strong graphic sexual content, language, and a beating

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Australia]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 December 2010 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Triste San Valentín

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£176,411 (UK) (14 January 2011)

Gross:

$9,701,559 (USA) (15 April 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incentive Filmed Entertainment, Silverwood Films, Hunting Lane Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The MPAA originally rated the movie NC-17, but after public allegations of using a double-standard to rate portrayals of sex on-screen, the organization agreed to hear an appeal. Upon review, the MPAA unanimously agreed that the film should receive an R rating. Had the appeal not been granted, it's possible this would have been the first NC-17-rated film to get an Academy Award nomination since Henry & June, and the first for acting.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie when Dean and Cindy are fighting at her dad's house it is clear outside when they enter and leave the house, but pouring rain is seen through the back window.

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Quotes

Dean: We're inside a robot's vagina

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Connections

Featured in CBS News Up to the Minute: Episode dated 16 December 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Alligator (Choir Version)"
Written by Edward Droste and Daniel Rossen
Performed by Grizzly Bear
Courtesy of Warp Records

User Reviews

A Slow Dissolve

Greetings again from the darkness. OK, so I was extremely surprised to be the only male in a theater with 30 plus viewers. I had not once previously thought of this as a chick flick. In fact, it is quite a weighty relationship expose' and that explains the lack of present men. What is surprising is that while the film is about the ever-so-slow crumbling of a marriage, there is no blame placed at the feet of any one person, as is so often the case in Hollywood.

You might have already guessed that this is no upbeat, loosie-goosie rom-com. Rather, it is a bleak look at a marriage that starts with good intentions and fades into misery. On the plus, we witness an acting clinic by two of today's absolute best ... Ryan Gosling as Dean and Michelle Williams as Cindy. Dean is quite the oddball romantic as he strums his ukulele and quivers "You Always Hurt the Ones You Love" in a bit of foreshadowing. Cindy, on the other hand, is a bit more ambitious and has dreams of medical school.

The two meet by happenstance in the hallway of a nursing home when Cindy is visiting her grandmother. Immediately, there are sparks and after Cindy's macho boyfriend proves his true rotten self to her, she becomes more enamored with Dean. When an unexpected pregnancy occurs, Dean is pretty quick to stand up for Cindy and they set off to build a life together.

Flash forward 6 years and Dean has changed very little, while Cindy just seems totally beaten down. They both cherish their precious daughter Frankie (played by newcomer Faith Wladyka) but their relationship is nowhere, gone, kaput. Even an attempted one-night getaway to a themed hotel doesn't provide the relief they need. Instead, it's the final straw. When Cindy repeats "I'm done" ... we don't doubt her at all.

Director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance does a tremendous job with the details and creating the personalities of these two people. Every relationship requires work and failure can be predicted when one gives up and the other pretends all is fine. This one probably won't save any marriages, but it is worth seeing just to watch Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in action.