Blue Valentine

This one is actually one for in flight or for a direct DVD release. Funnily did not see it on the way here. But promptly caught up with it when I had the time over the last week. In fact I think it was on New Year’s eve if I remember correctly. Waiting for my brother to get off work and caught up with the 21:35 show which got over a few minutes before midnight. Perfect Timing I say.


Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) are 6 years into their marriage. Theirs was a marriage shrouded in doubt and controversy. Cindy is studing to be a doctor. She is dating Bobby (Mike Vogel) who is the college wrestling champion – a sport that Cindy doesn’t really get. But that’s really got nothing to do with what she feels about Bobby. He is just another guy in the list of guys that Cindy has been with since she lost her virginity @ the ripe old age of 13!!! Bobby, like any other wrestler boy friend is significantly over protective and jealous about his girl friend – as aspect that stresses the relationship out to no end.

Dean, on the other hand is a no good bum of sorts. He likes to live life on his terms. Work when you need to and make just about enough money to get by. This doesn’t take away from him the fact that he is really intelligent. But like an aquaintence of mine would have said, “Mere Ko kuch ban na hi nahin hai” (I really don’t want be somebody). So he spends his time doing odd jobs. He drops out of school at an early age calling it too difficult. His wanderings get him to join a local packing and moving company. On his 1st assignment, he is extremely nice to the old man who is moving. As he is leaving he notices Cindy who is @ the same old age home visiting her grand mother. He tries to make small talk with her but is not successful. However, as luck would have it, he manages to catch up with her the next time he is in the area. One thing leads to another and they find themselves pregnant. Cindy doesn’t know whose kid it is but Dean is willing to support. When Cindy is unable to go through with her plans to abort the child, they decide to get married – a marriage that was probably destined to collapse purely on the basis on which it was formed.

Blue Valentine (BV) then follows the lives of Dean and Cindy 6 years later to figure out how they try to sustain a relationship, a child, responsibilities, money, sex, parents, a dog – Life in general!!!! Gosling (Fracture, The Notebook) and Williams (Shutter Island, Brokeback Mountain), who are the mainstays for the movie have come up with pretty good performances of a couple which is holding onto every shred of hope and the last straws to keep the relationship alive. Williams if you are unaware has been nominated once for an Oscar for her supporting role in Brokeback Mountain. Derek Cianfrance doesn’t really have any well known movie under his belt to date. He has spent more of his time in the space of short films and documentaries. But there seems to be quite a bit of potential here. The narration is a little over the place but I guess it was required for the way the movie was shot – shuttling back and forth between the development of the love story and the troubled times that the couple is facing in the current day. Quite an arty movie. Worth a dekko positively. I would give this 6.5 on 10.