Blue Valentine
114 minutes
R
Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams
Director: Derek Cianfrance
“I don't want to wait for our lives to be over. Will it be yes or will it be sorry.”
-Paula Cole (Dawson’s Creek theme song)
Michelle Williams has come a long way since her days of playing ‘bad girl’ Jen Lindley: The girl who seemed to be in a perpetual drunken stupor. It seems like just yesterday I was watching this teen dramedy. Young adults grow up so fast.
Blue Valentine follows Cindy (Williams) and Dean (Gosling), a young married couple. The film cuts back and forth between the courtship process and the life they find themselves in just a few years later. This movie is about a relationship that deteriorates slowly over time.
Cindy’s was definitely the protagonist in this story. She has an tremendous amount of emotional baggage from childhood. Her parents did not love each other. Flashbacks reveal an general lack of connectedness between her emotionally abusive parents. With all her issues, she is quite resilient and mentally stable. Yet, there still remains some emotional distance with her and the people in her life.
There is not much back story on Dean. Consequentially, the viewer is left with only a vague understanding of Dean’s past. You mostly just see the consequences of his presence in Cindy‘s life. Dean seems to have a textbook-case of borderline personality disorder. A high school drop out. His work consists of painting houses. He’s charming and a surprisingly good father, to a kid who probably isn’t his. Dean goes through dramatic mood swings. His lows cause irreversible harm to those around him. At his best, he can be magnanimous and innocent.
Extensive thought was put into the soundtrack. "You And Me," by Penny and the quarters. This was an unearthed R&B track from the early 1970’s. Definitely the central song of this film. Otherwise, most of the soundtrack consisted of previously recorded music from Grizzly Bear. Additionally, there was a Department of Eagles track, a little ditty by Ryan Gosling and even Pat Benetar’s “We Belong” was put in the exact right spot.
This movie provides the audience with an example of a realistic adult relationship (the director had these two actors actually living together for a month). Imperfect people attached to one another by fate. A lost soul and a hopeless romantic. Cindy and Dean will most likely never find lasting happiness until they grow as individuals.
This movie is great, but it is depressing as hell. There is no sugar coating, no happy ending. One could call it an unromanticized romance.
Final Verdict 92 out of 100
