Saturday, January 29, 2011

Blue Valentine: Movie Review


"Blue Valentine" is tragically real, beautiful, and blue.

Bathed in blue light, intimate romance, and raw emotion, "Blue Valentine" is a beautiful, but harrowing, exploration of one relationship. Cindy (Michelle Williams) wants to find love to get past her parent's hatred for each other; Dean (Ryan Gosling) is a sucker for romance and pretty blond girls. Too bad, as he believes, that the pretty ones are always the crazy ones. 2010

Directed by: Derek Cianfrance

Screenplay by: Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis

Starring: Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling

They rightfully chose to not just show us them falling in love, but also them falling out of love. It is bold in its intentions and with the unromantic route it chose to take. But it really succeeds because of the characters and the actors. These are well written characters that are brought to life and get under your skin because of Williams and Gosling. Undeniably the best performances of their careers. A well-deserved Oscar nomination for Williams and I was completely enraptured with Gosling more than I have ever been with his previous roles.

Although I did get emotionally invested in their story, it was structured rather poorly. Timing always seemed off, and developments in their characters were too quick and out-of-the-blue. This does take away from its emotional impact, but I was still completely invested in Cindy and Dean. "Blue Valentine" is a very well made film for its $1 million budget with beautiful shots (particularly the fireworks lighting up the credits at the end), and it was not nearly as risqué and unbearably sad as I was led to believe. Recommended for those that can appreciate the tragic realism of life mixed in with the romance of soul mates falling in love.
Best of 2010




Recommended:

Certified Copy (2010) - A relationship about mystery just as much as love.