Blue Valentine

Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy Heller-Pereira (Michelle Williams) are a married couple. This movie jumps back and forth to show their relationship over time. They have a girl named Frankie. He works menial jobs and she works as a nurse. He's a slacker and she's the tired responsible one. They both come from dysfunctional families. She runs into Bobby Ontario at the liquor store which causes friction between the couple. It turns out that Bobby is her former boyfriend with a big secret between them.

This is a great little indie about love that fades. By the end, it seems that their early flirtations are from another life. Gosling and Williams give subtle but profound performances. Most compelling is that they are about to give two slightly different versions of the same characters. The movie takes it slowly as it unravels this relationship.

Blue Valentine is one of the most depressing and well done films I've ever seen.

It is one that I will recommend that everyone see. Not because I want them to be sad or because I think they could learn anything new but because I think everyone should want to see the best of everything and this film is the best of its genre that I have ever seen. The acting is perfect. The metaphors are delicious and the hidden signs are just waiting to be uncovered.

Another great thing about this movie is that it is interesting to get different perspectives from your friends as to what they think happened in the movie and to whose side they are on. It is unlikely that they will have trouble connecting to or relating to the characters in Blue Valentine no matter if they have ever been married or had kids before.

Don't expect this to be a date movie or a nice happy rom-com. It is pretty much the anti-thesis of a date movie.

Surprisingly well done. I was a bit skeptical at first, but as I traveled my way through this story, it made more sense than many other attempts to capture this concept and present it well. Michelle Williams really shines here, it may be her best role yet, at least that I'm aware of.

The key point here is that is an anatomy of a marriage that has dissolved over time, becoming increasingly irrelevant to the wife, and evermore difficult for the husband to comprehend or connect with what's going on with his wife.

I've seen this before, in real life. Sometimes, marriages just come apart over time, even if they started out with the best of intentions and all the chemistry that can be imagined. It just happens . . . people change over time, and often, not in sync with each other. There's no real "bad guy" in the scenario portrayed . . . just the realities of how people drift apart, to the point of no return. Trust me on this one, this does happen.

This film may not be for everyone, but for those who can relate with this type of story, this is probably one of the best attempts yet which delivers a reasonably realistic depiction of what this can be like.

Let me start this off by saying that this movie is not for everyone and I did not particularly enjoy myself while watching it.

It's a very well made film with beautiful shots and amazing acting. The story and themes are well fleshed out and provide for some uncomfortable scenes throughout the movie. From a film-making standpoint, this movie is great.

Despite its technical aspects that I loved, I simply did not enjoy this film all that much. There were too many uncomfortable scenes that included sex, domestic violence, and other intense events. While well made, this film seems like a one time watch. I cannot imagine putting myself through such a depressing movie again.

Blue Valentine is not an easy film to watch and it drags at times. That said, it is very powerful and heart-breaking. Two things especially make it so. One is the script, which is full of genuine emotional credibility and never falls into the trap of being too clever. The other is the story, with the time-skipping structure proving interesting and the story itself is so well-observed. Blue Valentine is shot beautifully yet with a lot of grit, and the soundtrack is amazing, for one it is one of 2010's best soundtracks. The film is also sharply directed, and the film instead of straightforwardly tracing the rise and fall of their relationship actually contrasts the young couple's hopeful beginnings with their subsequent grinding domestic discord. Some mayn't like this approach, I found it incredibly interesting and thought it worked wonders, considering how much effort was made into making this approach credible. The performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are simply wonderful, their characters are not the most sympathetic characters in the world, nor I don't think were they intended to be, but the performances themselves and the chemistry I couldn't fault. Overall, a very powerful and moving film. 8/10 Bethany Cox