Blue Valentine (2010)

I actually didn't have a musical prepared for my ipod so I diverged for a moment to work on my Oscar nominees a little bit. This film is probably the most controversial film of the year since it was in the running for Best Picture before it was slapped with an NC-17 rating. The film was slapped with this rating because of a scene between the two lead characters involving both sex and violence. There is quite a bit of racy subject matter in the film, and you would have to be pretty lax with what you call acceptable for the R rating. I think it is fairly common for films to be on the border between R and NC-17 and are edited to meet the more acceptable rating. I just don't think you could avoid some of the scenes and have the same overall film.

The film stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. I've become very familiar with Gosling's indie films over the last few years, Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson, were both very good. Most people should be familiar with his more popular The Notebook. Williams on the other hand has had a rough several years. This project was actually put on hold for over a year after the death of her husband Heath Ledger. I didn't find her film Wendy and Lucy very good either. You do have two actors that are willing to take risks, and this is a risky film.

The plot of the film is that Dean and Cindy are married with a little girl. You can sense there is tension in their relationship from the start, and Dean acts like kind of a bum. He goofs around with his daughter, and Cindy doesn't seem to enjoy this one bit. We only advance one to two days in the film and are constantly flashing back to before they met, through their courtship, and eventual marriage.The film is very dark and I have been reflecting back on it a lot over the last several weeks since watching it. There is no easy answer to who is wrong, and why the situation turns sour. I found this film to be much more intense and memorable than Winter's Bone, but feel that The Town would have still been the best choice for the 10th Best Picture nomination.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1120985/

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