Not promoting anything here, but thanks to a cool promotion at Blockbuster, I've got unlimited free rentals until the beginning of next month. And, I'm using this opportunity to watch all the movies I've missed over the last year and change.
And, alas, the month is over. Eighteen movies. For free. Not too shabby.
Film #18:
Blue Valentine
Man, this movie hurts. I see my parents in it. Not completely, thank God. But, I see 'em.
I also see a world I want no part of. Being one of those unfortunate bastards who has never had a relationship and therefore never been in love, I watch movies like this and think, "Thank God that's not me."
The great thing about Blue Valentine, aside from the the lead performances, which I'll get to, is that there's no bad guy. Not really. For some, Cindy (Michelle Williams) is the bad guy. She's mean and cold and distant. She hates her life, even though she chose it. For others, Dean (Ryan Gosling) is a loser. And, he's the worse kind of loser. He makes the life he leads appealing and he himself is appealing. You could say that he seduced Cindy into a life she didn't want. Except, that ignores what she did at the beginning of her relationship with him. She was with another guy. She....
Scrap that. You have to watch the film and allow for events to unfold for you. Some are devastating. Some make you feel warm. Most are too realistic.
Honestly, I'm never seeing this movie again. But, that's the highest compliment I can give this movie. It did absolutely what it wanted to do: it told a real, honest story about two people who fell in love and what happened after. Kudos to the filmmakers involved and director Derek Cianfrance. You guys did great.
As for Williams and Gosling. Best performances of 2010. Easily. Williams deserved her well-earned Oscar nod. Gosling was fucked. His worked is astonishing here. Bravo.
5 out of 5
And, that's that.
