Blue Valentine

Despite sounding like a softcore porno Blue Valentine does possess some hardcore action, though only in dramatic acting sense you pervo! Apologies for the lame attempt at humour, but if you’re going to see this film you’ll need some sort of laughs before you go in. There’s few smiles in this film which is ostensibly about watching a couple fall in love, have a kid and then have a horrible break up. That’s not a plot spoiler as the marketing has sold the film on that point. So, why would you watch such a film if you already know what’s going to happen? The slight twist is that the film is told in two different time frames, when the protagonists Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) first meet and when things start going awry a number of years later. Even using this tactic is this still a film you can get much enjoyment out of though? If you want to watch a doomed romance, then fair enough, in fact, that is the trump card that the film does hold in the notion that, if not to the extremes you see here, everyone has been in a failed relationship at one point and can relate to the tell tale signs on screen. Director Derek Cianfrance gets good performances from both Gosling and Williams, but for actors of their calibre, something like this should be a walk in the park anyway. Gosling, is the best of the two (particularly as he’s more at ease in the many improvised scenes), but you feel there is some serious star wattage there yet to be released and let’s hope for a more mainstream move from him soon. Trivia wise Cianfrance based the older version of Dean on himself and if you see a picture there is an uncanny resemblance. Other than that there isn’t much else to “enjoy” here, though that, of course, isn’t the point. Put it like this, if you’ve had enough of films like Valentine’s Day then this is the rehabilitation you need.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Well acted and the split time frame works. Cianfrance gives us what’s advertised, but would you want to watch it in the first place? Rating: 7/10.