Blue Valentine - A Love Story

 As per a friends suggestion, I decided to rent the drama that is Blue Valentine (2010).  I really have to be in the mood to deal with such heavy hitting back and forth but this was well worth it.  It stars Ryan Gosling (Dean), Michelle Williams (Cindy) and a sweet little girl named Faith Wladyka (Frankie).  Directed by Derek Cianfrance and written by Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis.  Blue Valentine centers around a modern married couple and takes us through the ordeals that formed them together.
  Dean (Ryan Gosling) is your everyday blue collar worker who never wanted to get married or have children.  Cindy (Michelle Williams) works a nurse at a doctors office and has a young daughter named Frankie.  It begins with our first look into what seems to be a somewhat normal family's everyday outs and ins.  You soon get emerged into the tension that centers between the two.  As soon as you see how their love has eroded with time, you are then whipped back to when it all began.
 When the first look back into Dean's life came about, I felt a tad confused.  It wasn't a clear switch between the two eras but you soon realize what is abroad and get taking right back into it all.  After seeing how they met and how they fell for one another you see that they both come from dysfunctional backgrounds proven to be problematic for them both.  Cindy does her best not to have a relationship like her parents and turns to her grandmother for advice.  One of my favorite lines from the movie was simple and short.  It was said by Cindy after she had an advice session with her grandmother. "How can you trust your feelings if they fade away?"
 Ryan Gosling is truely a leading man and can hold his ground in Hollywood.  His performance was raw and biting at every line.  Michelle Williams is also another one to watch a she starts to bud.  Her performances have yet to disappoint and will keep you mesmerized.  Williams was nominated for an Oscar (2011) for her performance as Cindy, it was giving to Natalie Portman for Black Swan.
 Overall, I feel that Blue Valentine makes us realize that you never really know what two people share.  The little things in life remind us that we once loved and were loved and the film is hands down one to see.