Blue Valentine is the most harrowing movie I've seen all year. It’s more intense than Black Swan and harder-to-watch than when James Franco cuts off his own arm in 127 Hours. It is brutal—as incredibly honest and raw as it is beautiful and impeccably acted. Don’t be fooled by the cutesy trailer of two people falling in love, folks. This is no date movie. In fact, as I sat through Blue Valentine, holding the hand of my loved one, all I could think about to keep myself from completely breaking down and becoming lost in this movie was the whiskey I was going to throw back as soon as the film was over.
I mean that as a compliment.
Read more after the jump!
I mean that as a compliment.
Read more after the jump!
While half of Blue Valentine tells the tale of two cute twentysomethings falling in love in Brooklyn, the film begins with a five-year-old girl searching for her lost dog with her dad, Dean (Ryan Gosling with a thinning hairline and a slight beer belly for his older version) and mom Cindy (Michelle Williams). Dean, who’s often much like a child himself, is not quite a deadbeat dad. He drinks and smokes heavily throughout the day during his job as a house painter, but he’s incredibly in touch with his precocious daughter, even exclaiming “let’s eat like leopards” when she knocks her raisins out of her bowl. Cindy is a downtrodden nurse whose face rings of exasperation.
Suddenly we’re transported to before the couple has met, when Dean has with a bounce in his step. It’s slightly jarring at first, as the director Derk Cianfrance does not alert you to the flashback other than applying a vibrancy of colors and energies severely lacking from the present day story. Cindy and Dan are both fresh-faced, full of life, and decidedly missing the weight of their future selves. We witness their meeting and courtship, which, yes, does include a cute ukulele scene. And quickly we are thrust back into the present, which shows the rapid deterioration of their marriage.
There are no really dramatic points in Blue Valentine. The plot is fairly straightforward: two people met, fall in love, and slowly the love is overshadowed by the failure of marriage. While the film isn’t as splashy as most Oscar bait films, these little, quiet moments really stick with you. We watch Dean struggle to keep his marriage together, talking Cindy into going to a cheesy future-themed motel in order to rekindle something—anything. And, while we watch as he fails and flounders and Cindy pushes him further away, Cianfrance juxtaposes this with Dean crooning on his ukulele, “You always hurt the ones you love,” as Cindy tap dances goofily. It's a profound combination of scenes and emotions.
Blue Valentine is a hard movie to shake. And it’s hard to shake because Gosling and Williams give incredible performances. They’re, all at the same time, brave, honest, vulnerable, and completely unrestricted as actors. (I even enjoyed that they both gained weight to play their older selves—it’s insanely annoying to watch very skinny actresses play downtrodden wives.) It’s hard to even choose whose side you’re on. While Cindy is tight and restrained, there is a real sense of longing beneath her harshness, especially when coupled with the flashbacks. And, as much as you love Dean when he’s with his daughter and how hard he tries to keep his family together, he’s just a big fuck-up with no ambition. Both actors are really at their best in Blue Valentine.
The film is moving and disturbing, beautiful and saddening. It will sit with you far longer than you are in the theater. Just make sure to have that glass of whiskey ready.
--Darcie Duttweiler
Suddenly we’re transported to before the couple has met, when Dean has with a bounce in his step. It’s slightly jarring at first, as the director Derk Cianfrance does not alert you to the flashback other than applying a vibrancy of colors and energies severely lacking from the present day story. Cindy and Dan are both fresh-faced, full of life, and decidedly missing the weight of their future selves. We witness their meeting and courtship, which, yes, does include a cute ukulele scene. And quickly we are thrust back into the present, which shows the rapid deterioration of their marriage.
There are no really dramatic points in Blue Valentine. The plot is fairly straightforward: two people met, fall in love, and slowly the love is overshadowed by the failure of marriage. While the film isn’t as splashy as most Oscar bait films, these little, quiet moments really stick with you. We watch Dean struggle to keep his marriage together, talking Cindy into going to a cheesy future-themed motel in order to rekindle something—anything. And, while we watch as he fails and flounders and Cindy pushes him further away, Cianfrance juxtaposes this with Dean crooning on his ukulele, “You always hurt the ones you love,” as Cindy tap dances goofily. It's a profound combination of scenes and emotions.
Blue Valentine is a hard movie to shake. And it’s hard to shake because Gosling and Williams give incredible performances. They’re, all at the same time, brave, honest, vulnerable, and completely unrestricted as actors. (I even enjoyed that they both gained weight to play their older selves—it’s insanely annoying to watch very skinny actresses play downtrodden wives.) It’s hard to even choose whose side you’re on. While Cindy is tight and restrained, there is a real sense of longing beneath her harshness, especially when coupled with the flashbacks. And, as much as you love Dean when he’s with his daughter and how hard he tries to keep his family together, he’s just a big fuck-up with no ambition. Both actors are really at their best in Blue Valentine.
The film is moving and disturbing, beautiful and saddening. It will sit with you far longer than you are in the theater. Just make sure to have that glass of whiskey ready.
--Darcie Duttweiler
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