Blue Valentine
Rating: 8/10
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams
Director: Derek Cianfrance
With an Oscar nom in tow for Michelle Williams (but sadly no win), Blue Valentine turns an uneasy warts and all eye on a marriage in trouble.
One day, Gosling's Dean and Williams' Cindy are suffering under the strains of six years together.
On a whim, the pair palm off their young daughter to family and check into a crappy local motel to try and recoup some of the love.
However, as the night creaks under the weight of expectation, the cracks in their marriage begin to widen.
Blue Valentine is gritty, emotionally raw and heart breaking in places. Interspersed with flashbacks to their first meetings the films blessed with two compelling performances from a pair of actors hitting their peak.
Williams conveys every emotion of despair and desperation as the strain begins to show; but her Oscar nominated performance is matched by Gosling who veers from anger to frustration and love with ease - and consequently both actors are unmissable because of their opposite's performance.
Two compelling actors give their all to this and it soars because of it - it's not a comfortable watch by any stretch of the imagination but thanks to a clever way the narrative unfolds, it feels natural, upsetting and at times, tender way of looking at the ups and downs of love.
Blue Valentine runs the gamut of every raw and human emotion; it shines a spotlight on what makes - and breaks - a marriage and because of Gosling and Williams, it really does feel like a superior sobering two hander.
Grimy, raw and yet poignant in the extreme, Blue Valentine is a powerful watch - a piece of cinema which signals two actors have stars which are continuing to rise.
Watch the trailer for Blue Valentine here.
