Directed By: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Faith Wladyka, & Mike Vogel
MPAA Rating: R
My Rating: 10 / 10
"This is the dream." - Dean (Ryan Gosling)
Brutal and beautiful. Those two words aren't usually used together, but they are most fitting when describing Blue Valentine. It's brutal, because of its unflinching portrayal of two people falling apart. It's beautiful, because of the touching way it approaches the story. Neither praising nor condemning either of its lead characters, it presents the duration of their rocky relationship in a decidedly unbiased way. In fact, by the end of the film, I had fallen for both of the characters and, though I didn't believe they should be together, I wanted them each to have a happy ending apart from one another. This symbolizes why Blue Valentine is so effective. In real life, there isn't just black or white, good or bad. There are shades of grey. In a break up, there isn't always one person solely responsible; there isn't always a bad guy twirling his/her maniacal moustache as the other partner pines for what could have been. Sometimes, things just don't work out. For some reason, this is a truth not often shown in movies.
