ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – B – Blue Valentine (2010) Movie Review
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Writer: Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis, Cami Delavigne (Screenplay)
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, John Doman, Faith Wladyka, Mike Vogel, Marshall Johnson
Plot: The relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.
Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Blue Valentine starts as we meet the couple Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams) who have a little girl Frankie (Wladyka) who have started to have a few troubles with their marriage. We jump through their relationship, seeing the different stages of their time together, from the first moments to the troubling stages.
Thoughts on Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine is a movie that is showing the positives and negatives people will go through during a relationship. Putting the characters through the ups and downs along the way. Much like the more recent Marriage Story. We get to look at a more realistic look at love, marriage and how things don’t go smoothly. Showing that not everything if happy endings in this world.
Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are both brilliant in the leading roles. Showing the different stages, while everyone else in the supporting roles does a great job too. Where this will shine more is by having more everyday jobs for both the characters. Instead of any being unrealistic work life balance being the problem, it is just life that causing the problems.
Final Thoughts – Blue Valentine is an interesting look at love and the course it can take.