Film Review: BLUE VALENTINE (2010)

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Writers: Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis, Cami Delavigne
Running time: 112 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Drama/Romance
UK Release date: 14^th January 2011

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 13^th January 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember this film came out to a lot of critical acclaim, not least for the performances of the two leads. In fact, the lead actress, Michelle Williams, picked up an Oscar nomination for her performance. I must say the acclaim and the accolades are well deserved; the film either lives or dies on these two performances and they are both delivered with great skill. Here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

A couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) and their daughter, Frankie (Faith Wladyka), have lost their dog. The gate was left open and the dog got out; this leads to a train of events that will eventually lead to the break-up of Dean and Cindy. But before we get there we are told the story of how they got together in the first place and learn an awful lot about these two quite different characters. I guess that’s all I want to say here; that, in a nutshell, is what the film is about.

The two central performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are truly excellent. They take the audience through a whole range of emotions and back again! The film is shot using quite a lot of hand-held camera; but not too shaky; which makes for a realistic feel to the drama. To me it seemed a little odd to show just the beginning and the end of the relationship; maybe I missed something, but I wanted to know what happened in the middle. Could be it was doomed from the start. I enjoyed this one and would watch it again (making sure I was in the mood first); definitely worthy of my recommendation.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.4/10.

IMDb Score: 7.5/10 (based on 72,300 votes when this review was written).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1120985/

MetaScore: 81/100: (Based on 42 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 88/100 (based on 185 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 75/100 (based on 50,895 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blue_valentine/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Dean: I feel like men are more romantic than women. When we get married we marry, like, one girl, 'cause we're resistant the whole way until we meet one girl and we think I'd be an idiot if I didn't marry this girl she's so great. But it seems like girls get to a place where they just kinda pick the best option... 'Oh he's got a good job.' I mean they spend their whole life looking for Prince Charming and then they marry the guy who's got a good job and is gonna stick around.

Dean: In my experience, the prettier a girl is, the more nuts she is, which makes you insane.
Cindy: I like how you can compliment and insult somebody at the same time, in equal measure.

Dean: I can't really sing. I have to sing goofy, in order to sing. I have to sing stupid.

Cindy: I thought the whole point of coming here was to have a night without kids.

LINKS:
(NOTE: All links were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.bluevalentinemovie.com/
Trailer: