Blue Valentine (2010)

Blue Valentine is a raw, realistic look at the rise and collapse of a modern day relationship. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling absolutely shine in their roles. They are able to fully capture their characters every emotion with brutal honesty.

The film weaves in and out of the beginning of the relationship where the love is real and strong, and the end where they are struggling and forcing themselves to try to stay together, despite no longer having feelings for one another.

The part of the film that takes place earlier and tells of their meeting and first falling in love is the part of the film that is deep, beautiful woven and well crafted. The rest of the film that shows their decline feels forced, phony and workshopped to the point where it is actually dry and boring. The second part of the story is where it showed that this is filmmaker Derek Cianfrance first attempt at a feature. It seems like he knows what he wants to say, but struggled with knowing how to get there.You can definitely see the influence of John Cassavetes on the screen, but Cianfrance is far from the level of skill Cassavetes had. Maybe in time when Cianfrance has had more time to hone his craft, but until then...

Despite its flaws, the wonderful performances carry the film.


3.5/5 ***1/2