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Blue Valentine Stars: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Mike Vogel and Faith Wladyka Director: Derek Cianfrance Scriptwriters: Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis and Cami Delavigne Cinematography: Andrij Parekh Weinstein Company Rating: R for violence, nudity and language Running Length: 111 minutes Blue Valentine is a portrait of a marriage told in flashbacks. We see what happens in a six-year period between marriage and the present where separation is a definite possibility. The thread of violence and possession runs through the film and the audience is able to see where the violence and possession began and an idea of its continuance. This is a three-party film starring Ryan Gosling (Dean) meeting and getting married to Michelle Williams (Cindy.) The silent partner in the mix is their families and how that casts a shadow over emotions and behavior. Mike Vogel (Bobby) shows up as a former boyfriend of Cindy's, and he, too shows a margin for violence/possession. Are people doomed to attract that which they don’t want to deal with? The film begins in the present as the family of Cindy, Dean and their daughter, Frankie (Faith Wladyka) start a day. He searches for the family dog while she cooks breakfast. The child goes to her grandfather’s house. We watch the adults through their day. Dean is a house painter wearing blue jeans, t-shirt and scruffy beard. We gather he is in his late twenties, but looks older. Cindy is a nurse, efficient and well-liked at her job. At the end of the day, she seems reluctant to go home. In a flashback, we see Cindy and Dean six years ago. She dotes on her grandmother who lives at a nursing facility, and while there, Cindy exchanges glances with Dean. This is all he needs and it ends up later in his discussion with a friend about love at first sight. In his case, it is love/possession at first sight and the courting process begins. Both have tender sides to their character, with Cindy and her grandmother and Dean and an old man whose furniture he helps move. Cindy has other male friends, but when pregnant with Dean’s baby, they are married. We don't see what happens in the six years, but can guess that Cindy completes nursing school and moves into a professional world, while Dean stayed in his comfort zone without looking at other possibilities. In the present, Dean is moody, drinking and slowly becoming like Michelle’s father when she was a child---tantrums when he couldn't have his way. Dean said his own father was an absent father, but that is what he is turning out to be, physically and emotionally. In Cindy's world, it peaks when Dean becomes suspicious of her work load and shows up at her workplace. Blue Valentine gives us a cast that acts so natural you think you are part of the scene. Though there is a supporting cast, Gosling and Williams carry the movie. Gosling always looks as though he could start throwing punches at any time (Sean Penn has a similar demeanor) and Williams has that soft look of a sheltered girl. There is a physical difference shown in the passage of time. Dean gains some weight, has a beard and looks scruffy. Cindy, too, has added pounds, rounder face and tougher demeanor. If this continues, you wonder, what would they look like another six years in the future? Cindy seems to have mellowed toward her father by allowing him to baby-sit the grandchild,, but nothing is noted of Dean’s family. What happens when one member starts to move on educationally and emotionally, while others stay where they are? There is responsibility to one's family and to oneself. The self part is often moved aside at a hidden cost to the person. “Blue Valentine” presents a situation that you can relate to, whether in a casual friendship, workplace or marriage setting. It is indeed as blue at the inside of a motel room where Dean takes Cindy. She washes her hair and he watches the ceiling. 
Copyright 2011 Marie Asner
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