I’m always intrigued when critics say some movies are a “raw and realistic” portrayal of relationships and love because, well I think few movies actually do it. For me, the best most realistic relationships on film occur when characters are fighting because you see in the heat of that moment what they say. For example, the movie “The Break Up” wasn’t amazing, but the fights between Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn were really tough to sit through because they WERE real, I found myself reliving saying similar words in a previous time. And Blue Valentine has had huge buzz about the “love story” between Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. So, with some Pretzel M&Ms, the Bear Pack and I went to see it.
Movie: Blue Valentine
Rating: R
Release date: December 29, 2010
Everyday Adventures’ grade: B
Summary: Cindy and Dean (Michelle Williams, Ryan “Hey Girl” Gosling) are in a marriage rut. But this time, the marriage’s survival is looking bleak. So while we get to watch their marriage fall apart, we also get to bounce back and see how they met and fell in love.
My thoughts: This was definitely a realistic portrayal of a couple in love and then, sadly out of love. And the out-of-love scenes are pretty raw and real. And there were MULTIPLE scenes (none sexual in nature) that were tough to watch. The movie also received a lot of buzz because the MPAA board originally gave this an NC-17 rating. Let me tell you, that is BS. Yes, there are graphic sex scenes but nothing lewd or tawdry in nature. In fact, the scene the news kept referring to was pretty tame in my mind. I could think of several other movies that went over the line more than this. Snap.
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were both amazing. Totally immersed and fearless in their characters and portrayals of Cindy and Dean as idealistic 20sbs and embittered 30sbs. Of the two, Ryan Gosling was the most captivating to watch. The guy is a) hot (especially in a black leather jacket) and b) a mere image of a hot younger self as Dean. This is a guy who goes from good looking to, well not-so-good looking and he is still just as entertaining to watch. Williams also continues to master the silent suffering, tortured female characters and she’s great at it. You connect with her and the pain her character is in.
In the backstory, there are a few twists I didn’t see coming so if you feel like you’re siding with one character in the beginning, when Dean and Cindy’s marriage is falling apart, you may switch teams. But my only gripe about this is that we don’t see how the marriage slowly fell apart over time and the fate of a few small characters is left unanswered too.
The most emotional scene for me to watch was at their wedding. It broke my heart because at this point, we’ve seen their marriage completely fall apart and then see them so happy and in love with one another that is sad because you know where they’ll end up. But how real their love was in that scene was amazing.
On the movie poster, it says that this is a “love story.” And after seeing it, I really thought about if that was true. To me, love stories are the rom com movies or classics of undying love that ends in happily ever after. But after seeing this and 500 Days of Summer, I’m beginning to see that a love story doesn’t always end happily. Sometimes, it just ends and the characters don’t forget about that love, but know it makes them worse together than better. That’s the situation here.
Both Gosling and Williams deserve their Golden Globe nominations and I hope they get Oscar nods too. This is a seriously intense movie, so don’t go thinking it will end happily or be a spirit booster, but it is still good.
Verdict: See it but go to a day matinee in case you don’t like it, or stay with Netflix.
Has anyone else seen this? What did you think?
