412: Blue Valentine

[00:00:00] So, Blue Valentine came out in 2010, of course directed by Derek Cianfrance, co-written by him as well, stars Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, John Doman, Mike Bogle, Faith Walika, not a lot of other big names. And the synopsis is the relationship of a contemporary married couple charting their evolution over

[00:00:23] a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods. Like I said, I got to this one after I saw Place Beyond the Pines. I had heard about this one over the years and I still hear it mentioned quite a lot

[00:00:35] of it being one that you don't watch with your first date or don't watch with your wife or your husband or anything like that because it is a very tragic romance and it's a very

[00:00:47] real tragic romance where I guess some people are worried about it revealing too much about themselves or their own relationship, anything like that. And so I always see it mentioned even now on the most depressing movies of all time,

[00:01:01] the most tragic, the saddest romances, that kind of thing, which I absolutely agree with. But at the same time, he's someone who if you just watch his movies once, I can understand that like I mentioned, but I don't mind watching movies like this over and over again because

[00:01:17] even something similar to Revolutionary Road, I love movies where it makes actors and the writing very front and center. And similar to Revolutionary Road and this one as well, you just have people stuck in a house or in a room having to just battle it out verbally.

[00:01:36] And it's definitely one of Ryan Gosling's and Michelle Williams' best performances. I think Derek Cianfrance just gets an amazing level of performance from all of his actors, especially his leads. The opening sequence of the dog being lost is really, you already feel the tone of the

[00:01:53] movie right there, like just this is going to be the most depressing thing ever. And it does not disappoint in that way. The reveal of the mother finding the dog killed on the side of the road and then her and Ryan

[00:02:06] Gosling having to bicker about it and the girl being not sure what happened to the dog and Ryan Gosling having to lie to the kid saying, hey, maybe it went off to be a movie dog.

[00:02:15] And I think the writing of the movie is, as with all of his films, are so realistic. I could easily see this being a true family, a true couple, both in the latter years of

[00:02:26] where their marriage is falling apart, but also in the early days where they're happy and in love and everything's great. The cross cutting of the time periods, it works pretty well overall. I don't really have any big issues with it.

[00:02:40] There are times where that style of filmmaking, the nonlinear storytelling where it's through the whole movie, it's not just in the first 30 minutes. It does sometimes make the movie feel a little bit longer than it is.

[00:02:53] And so by the end, there are points where I wouldn't say it gets messy because you can follow everything pretty well, but there are points where I think the pacing lets up

[00:03:00] a little bit and I'm kind of ready for things to wrap up or get to the next point. Not a real big issue, but every time I watch it, I've seen it maybe four or five times now.

[00:03:10] That's always something that I point out as really one of the only flaws. Nevertheless, it's still really charming at times, really funny, but also incredibly emotional and tragic and depressing because as the synopsis suggests, you see this normal couple

[00:03:28] falling in love and getting married in this very odd circumstance where Michelle Williams's character gets pregnant from another person and then Ryan Gosling basically just stepping up to the plate and them getting married and raising the kid together.

[00:03:43] But also all of the conversations in the latter part of the relationship where they're just bickering, they're fighting and Michelle Williams I think especially is just saying I'm calling it like I'm done here. I'm tired of feeling this way, etc. etc.

[00:03:58] Ryan Gosling's anger and frustration and anxiety and God knows what else is getting under his skin and he's acting out and acting crazy where in the first stages of the romance he was not like that at all.

[00:04:11] And then you see this balding painter carpenter guy who's just a little burnt out and having to make do and trying to do the best for this child but really end of the day maybe

[00:04:22] them staying together is not the best option as it often can be with certain families unfortunately. But the movie is really really well done across the board. It looks great, it's a low budget obviously, but it looks great. Derek Cianfrance has a great eye.

[00:04:36] He's not someone I wouldn't put him in the same category as someone like Terrence Malick but also that's not a criticism. He still has a great eye just overall. His movies look good but to me he's more writing, he's more performance rather than

[00:04:51] here let's make the scene look perfect and have all the colors be perfect because really to not beat a dead horse here he is a very realistic filmmaker. He's always grounded in realism and just because his movies aren't surreal and mystical and

[00:05:05] colorful doesn't mean his movies don't look good. I think he has a very understated restrained beauty to his movies. So yeah, the motel sequence is really good where they go to this dystopian cheap motel room and try and reignite things but that doesn't really work.

[00:05:24] Then the ending sequences with the flashbacks of the original father of the child beating up Ryan Gosling and then Ryan Gosling meeting the family. I love the conversation in the car when they're going to the motel after Michelle Williams

[00:05:41] sees her old boyfriend who is the father of the child unknowingly and she's telling Ryan Gosling about it and she's saying yeah well he's fat even though he wasn't fat he's in good shape he looked good and Ryan Gosling's character is like why would I care if he's

[00:05:57] fat and he goes on this very gaslighting, condescending, patronizing rant and there's just those conversations that you very much feel like a fly on the wall. It's not like a Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey where everything is heightened and stylized.

[00:06:15] You could be watching your mother and father talk like this right now. So it is all really sad because there is that happy sad happy sad happy sad feeling where you see it working and then it not working and back and forth.

[00:06:28] So it's quite draining to watch like I don't want to just pop it on usually if I ever rewatch it now it's with someone who hasn't seen it I don't really feel the need to watch it again

[00:06:37] on my own but it is absolutely worth watching maybe I wouldn't watch it on a first date something like that it maybe watch it with your spouse that's maybe a good thing because you can see how a relationship can change and some warning signs things like that so

[00:06:52] maybe in some ways it's a cautionary tale I don't know but it's still a really interesting look and very much a unique romance and how it's told and it's a great launching point

[00:07:02] for Derek Cianfrance like this is still one that has quite a shelf life and really all of his movies do in my opinion so you got to be ready for it but I absolutely would

[00:07:12] watch the movie it's fantastic that is a four and a half out of five.