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BLUE VALENTINE
Some stylish directorial strokes and a pair of charismatic starring performances make 2010's Blue Valentine worth your time.
This is the story of Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), a long married couple with an adorable daughter named Frankie. Dean has just begun a job with a moving company and Cindy is a nurse who has been offered a job with her boss that would involve moving and uprooting her family. Dean and Cindy take Frankie to spend the night with her grandparents because they have decided they need some time alone. They check into a hotel and as they hit the sheets, we see that this marriage is not everything it initially appears to be.
This film then takes us on a Tarantino-like journey through scenes of Dean and Cindy's marriage, told out of sequence but still peeling the layers away of this decaying marriage which could not be held together by the sexual hit that ignited the relationship. The story moves back and forth between the beginning and the end of Dean and Cindy's relationship and provides answers as to why these people feel the need to check into a hotel to bring something back to their marriage that is missing.
Director and co-screenwriter Derek Clanfrance has mounted an intricate story that requires complete attention from the viewer as the story is told out of sequence, but not just out of sequence, these scenes from a marriage almost overlap at different points and might have the viewer questioning what is the present and the past, but where Clanfrance really scores is in his creation of these two characters who we come to immediately care about and want to learn what's wrong.
The other primary reason this story stays interesting is the riveting performances from the stars. Ryan Gosling is quite convincing going the De Niro route as a sexual beast who isn't the brightest bulb in the row, but is passionate about what is important to him. Michelle Williams received another Oscar nomination for the sexually charged character she creates in Cindy, a woman who sometimes thinks below her waist a little too much and finds pain because of it. But it is the chemistry between the two that keeps this one sizzling. I also loved the subtle music score by Grizzly Bear which Clanfrance felt didn't need to frame every single moment in the movie. It takes a minute to get going but I liked this one.
Some stylish directorial strokes and a pair of charismatic starring performances make 2010's Blue Valentine worth your time.
This is the story of Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), a long married couple with an adorable daughter named Frankie. Dean has just begun a job with a moving company and Cindy is a nurse who has been offered a job with her boss that would involve moving and uprooting her family. Dean and Cindy take Frankie to spend the night with her grandparents because they have decided they need some time alone. They check into a hotel and as they hit the sheets, we see that this marriage is not everything it initially appears to be.
This film then takes us on a Tarantino-like journey through scenes of Dean and Cindy's marriage, told out of sequence but still peeling the layers away of this decaying marriage which could not be held together by the sexual hit that ignited the relationship. The story moves back and forth between the beginning and the end of Dean and Cindy's relationship and provides answers as to why these people feel the need to check into a hotel to bring something back to their marriage that is missing.
Director and co-screenwriter Derek Clanfrance has mounted an intricate story that requires complete attention from the viewer as the story is told out of sequence, but not just out of sequence, these scenes from a marriage almost overlap at different points and might have the viewer questioning what is the present and the past, but where Clanfrance really scores is in his creation of these two characters who we come to immediately care about and want to learn what's wrong.
The other primary reason this story stays interesting is the riveting performances from the stars. Ryan Gosling is quite convincing going the De Niro route as a sexual beast who isn't the brightest bulb in the row, but is passionate about what is important to him. Michelle Williams received another Oscar nomination for the sexually charged character she creates in Cindy, a woman who sometimes thinks below her waist a little too much and finds pain because of it. But it is the chemistry between the two that keeps this one sizzling. I also loved the subtle music score by Grizzly Bear which Clanfrance felt didn't need to frame every single moment in the movie. It takes a minute to get going but I liked this one.