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:

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

Cindy's car has the Pennsylvania license plate CHT 8635. This is the same license plate on the car driven by Jim Halpert on "The Office"

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Goofs

When Cindy runs through the sprinkler at her dads, she turns back and her shirt is not wet. The shot goes to Dean and then comes back to her and her shirt is wet.

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Quotes

Cindy: What did it feel like when you fell in love?
Gramma: Oh... oh dear, I don't think I found it
Cindy: Even with grandpa?
Gramma: Maybe a little, in the beginning. He didn't really have any regard for me as a person. You gotta be careful with that. You gotta be careful with the person you fall in love is worth it... to you.
Cindy: I never want to be like my parents. I know they must've loved each other at one time right? To just get it all out of the way before they had me. How do you trust your feelings when they can just ...
[...]

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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

Is romantic love the ultimate form of masochism?

Director Derek Cianfrance may wish to stop wasting his talent on TV and make films his full time occupation. Cinema could use him. His 'Blue Valentine' studies the breakdown of a marriage through beautiful and heartbreaking juxtaposed scenes of past joy and optimism with present scenes of misery and depression. Flitting back and forth in the marriage, it asks: Is romantic love the ultimate form of masochism?

Fine young actors Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams play Dean and Cindy, who unite through a dogged courtship. Dean is easy-going, happy-go-lucky and content in his removal and packing company. He is chary of formal education, but has a philosopher's outlook. Cindy is sexually over-active and, although occasionally frolicsome, is more mature than Dean. About five years on, romance becomes repulsion, and their marriage becomes one of inconvenience.

Make no mistake, this is uncomfortable viewing – not the sex, which serves the story quite well – but the paranoia, pettiness and pugnacity in the couple's interaction. They reach their nadir when he practically begs for affection, and she pleads with him to be more ambitious.

No two actors have complemented each other this well for some time. In an age where vapid acting is vogue, Gosling is a novelty. He is very charming, yet he has a mournful countenance, and possesses a James Dean-like vulnerability. He'd be my poster-on-the-wall if I were 13.

I can't get that entrancing scene where Dean serenades Cindy out of my head. Dean's philosophical outpourings may be interpreted by some as drivel, but more sensitive viewers will detect the shattering honesty. A memorable maxim: 'Girls spend their whole life looking for Prince Charming and then marry the guy who's got a good job and is gunna stick around.'

We go to the movies – many of us – to escape real life. Comfortable as voyeurs, we let our favourite stars distract us and we forget our worries. But 'Blue Valentine' shows a truth no cinema can shield us from. It mustn't be missed.

www.scottishreview.net