“Blue Valentine” — Read Along
“Pack your bags baby, we’re going to the future room!”
What? It’s Valentine’s Day! And what better movie could you wish to watch on a day full of such love and romance than a heart breaking tale of loss, marital breakdown, drifting apart and living separate lives within a joint partnership split between being blissfully happy with one’s lot and the other needing more? It’s cynical comedy such as this that sees your humble narrator a forever batchelor in the game of love and life! Who needs an evening of flowers and chocolates, heartfelt gifts and a candlelit dinner for two before some consensual naughtiness beside a roaring fire when you can have your heart broken by near career best performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams!
Director Derek Cianfrance helmed one film before “Blue Valentine” and two after, but this remains his master work to date, and highly recommended to you whether it’s Valentine’s Day or not.
Here’s a snippet from my lengthy original review:
With a cast of so few characters and many of which melt into the background and provide only minimal cameo appearances, it’s pivotal that the central and joint headline performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams drive the film. And they do so magnificently in this heart breaking tale of loss, growing up and all consuming love in middle America. Written by Director Cianfrance alongside Joey Curtis and Cami Delavigne, the film explores the highs and lows of blossoming love through two deeply layered characters dealing with their personal demons and desperately seeking an almost old fashioned love, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer and for a love that will triumph over all. Presented in a non-linear narrative timeline, the film is rooted in the present as we see two parents already showing signs of their fractured and strained relationship in the film’s earliest scenes but through regular flashbacks we are drawn into their happier and loving times, through their sweet and affecting dating, of a man head over heels in love with a woman and their eventual marriage. There is far, far more but plot spoilers prevent me from elaborating.
“Cindy” (Michelle Williams) Fully deserving of her 2011 Oscar Nomination for Best Actress, this is Michelle Williams’ most accomplished and stellar performance of her career to date. Cindy is seemingly following her parents fractured and unhappy demise of a marriage falling apart and love lost. A nervous yet motivated and ambitious outsider, she dreams of a fulfilling medical career and in addition to her studies, cares for her elderly grandmother. Perhaps given free reign away from her parents it is with her “Gramma” (Jen Jones) that Cindy flowers and questions the nature of love and lifelong relationships with a telling “How do you trust your feelings when they disappear?”. A truly multi layered and stunning portrayal of young love and broken dreams, Cindy’s carefree dancing and flirting with Dean in the second act of the film is sublime.
“Dean” (Ryan Gosling) Seen in the earliest segments of the film as a devoted Father but angry and angst ridden, this is far from the Dean we see portrayed by Gosling in the flashback sequences. There are deeper scars but Dean hides these behind a carefree and free spirited nature. Simple, kind hearted and hard working, this is perfectly encapsulated by his re-decoration of an elderly man’s room in a retirement home and also sets him on the path to his one true love. An outsider who is happy with his lot in life but all the while controlling the inner demons of his past, he falls completely and unequivocally in love with Cindy, come what may. It’s a stark and very open portrayal at times, and Gosling (naturally) excels.
From here I delve deeper into the film as well as providing a scene-by-scene breakdown of the film’s key section as Dean persuades a very reluctant Cindy for a night away as he attempts to rekindle the love in their faltering relationship, and to a hotel described by Cindy as a “Cheesy Sex Motel”. For more you’ll have to read my fuller review linked below or indeed, as is the purpose of my “Read Along” series of favourite film review articles, combine this with either my Youtube or Rumble videos where I read my review of the film to camera.
What more could you want from a day and evening of love and romance than reading along to my review as I read it to you via Youtube!
"Blue Valentine" - Original Review
"Derek Cianfrance and 3 bona fide heart breakers!"
My reading of "Blue Valentine" - Youtube
My reading of "Blue Valentine" - Rumble
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection" - Available via Amazon
Thanks for reading. Here are some previous editions from this “Read Along” series:
"The Man Who Wasn't There" - Read Along