BLUE VALENTINE 3.5*** (from an artistic standpoint)




If you think of a relationship as having a life of its own, then Blue Valentine is that life at the moment of death where that life (from beginning to near end) flashes in front of your eyes. The film uses a combination of present time and flashback showing how these two people came together and how they inevitably fell apart. Ryan Gossling and Michelle Williams ( she was nominated for Oscar’s Best actress) are both superb in this film. He plays all the clumsy sweetness and frustration of Dean perfectly, and she plays the damaged and need to be loved with a quiet power that is absent from most performances today.

These are two people with a very romanticized view of love. They view it as something that is there or it isn't there. From their backgrounds it is obvious why. Neither of them has any exposure to a couple working at love and tending to the relationship. Things are good, then they aren't. Williams character says early on, "How can you trust your feelings when they can just disappear like that?" That is a question that has plagued people as long as there have been relationships. At some point your feelings will change and if you are unequipped to change and grow with them, then the relationship is probably destined to fail.

There are two stories here (falling in love and falling apart) told in intersecting circles. You see the beginning of the end, then you see how they meet, you see the relationship deteriorate further, then you see their amazing first date. This style allows you to see how they fell in love with each other, but also showed the lack of foundation the ultimately doomed them.

Gosling as the devoted, hard working father is touching, Williams as the overworked mother who seems to be raising her husband along with her daughter is touching. The dynamic of goofy, doting father, and concerned, loving mother is brilliantly played, and creates some genuinely sweet and heartbreaking moments.

This is not an easy movie to watch. It's quite brutal emotionally at times. While it is artistically great, the story and the acting, it is a REAL downer… very depressing. So, be warned, this is NOT a date night movie. In fact the opposite is true. If you’re going with someone and would like to break-up, take him/her to see this film and you make get your wish by the time the movie is over.


Rated R on appeal for strong graphic sexual content, language, and a beating; originally rated NC-17 for a scene of explicit sexual content.

Clark