Review of Blue Valentine (2010) by Nick P — 21 Nov 2014

Many viewers consider Blue Valentine a love story when that's not what it is at all. Maybe unconventional, it's not a stereotypical guy and girl falling in love. The cliches are shredded and in what could have been cheesy and melodramatic, Derek Cianfrance directs this with class and his own certain style along with a smooth script and two terrific actors, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

Dean and Cindy are having a rough day in their marriage, which seems rocky already. They have a daughter, Frankie, which they had out of wedlock. The story switches back to when they were at least 24 and 30. As Roger Ebert said, it's much more difficult to play those two ages than it is to play a 24 year-old switching to 60 year-old. It's still relatively young but it all depends on the maturity and how the effects of life changed them and Gosling and Williams portray that perfectly. It isn't sappy, which works greatly.

Though 30, Dean looks like he is in his forties at times, with a balding hair piece. He wears round glasses but isn't unattractive. Cindy looks more motherly and even more stressed out than lonesome. When they are in their twenties. they look and act like people in their twenties, more free but more lost than ever. When they first meet, they are instantly clicking. They sing and dance and kiss as if they were teenagers who have the giggles. But you can tell that they, especially Cindy, are not fixed and they are not fixed when they are older and married, either. What went wrong was their loss of personality and self-worth. They care more about each other than they do for themselves but at some points, they both are at fault for their problems and don't fix it properly.

In the present, Dean still loves Cindy very much so but that doesn't seem to be the same on her part. She is confusing at times but you really wonder what the problem is and not just for her. The film ends ambigulously, which leaves the viewers to have their own interpretation. It's easier to crave and imagine a fairytale ending but it's more real to have a disheartened conclusion for this type of story. But who knows what happens? That's the idea and Cindy and Dean are left to wonder what happens.

What I love about this film is that there is no forceful action. In most cancer stories, love stories or a combination of the two, one of the main goals is to force the viewer to feel sympathetic, sad, bawl their eyes out and feel any type of depressing mood. Blue Valentine lets real life occur whether it is good or bad. The script and Cianfrance's direction doesn't force you to be in love with the characters or to hate them. That's what most love stories and dramas do. They force you to love them and sugarcoats everything to make it seem perfect, but not have an opinion on them.

It's funny how a simple story can be so absorbing and intriguing and free. Williams and Gosling are a powerhouse, these two. They live their chemistry and hop into the souls of these damaged people. The lesson; Not everything is going to be happy and you have to put in effort to fix it and confess it.

The question: Would it be better to live in an imaginary tale or to have the truth to feel the joy and satisfaction of happiness?