Blue Valentine (2010– 112 mins) Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling

Blue Valentine is a polarizing movie. Most people either LOVE it or HATE it. Some people started the hate b/c of the explicit sex scenes in the movie. Myself? I hate it for the missing story points which lead to large plot holes and more questions then answers. There are some redeeming qualities to the movie and I think it has the beginnings of an excellent movie but it would have needed some extra story to make it what it could have been… what it SHOULD have been. But another spoilerific rant on that after the plot…

BV is about a married couple, Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams) who are going through a rough patch and on the verge of a possible divorce. The movie is told in a series of then and now shots. The flashback then showing us the how they met and how passionate their relationship was. The now being how dysfunctional their relationship has become and how at any second it might just shatter into nothing.

Spoilerific Rant to follow— IF you don’t want anything spoiled then please skip to my “Verdict” section where I give you the final thoughts with no spoilers.

I don’t mind the back and forth of the flashbacks, and I don’t mind the sexual content involved in the film. I even don’t mind the complete downer of an ending of the film. I have more of a problem that there is a whole middle section of the marriage missing. Why does she not love him any more? Why is she so disgusted to look at him? There are some slight hints sure at the end but nothing is revealed to show us definitive proof one way or another. He has a shitty job and has a beer in the am, but there is no doubt he truly loves his wife and daughter. I generally don’t mind some things in a movie being left to your own imagination as a viewer. However, this is a fairly large deal. There is no hints or evidence to the matter and it just simply bothers me. Why does it bother me so much? I think it’s b/c the whole movie revolves around the bright light which is their passion and how it fizzles out, just like the metaphor of the fireworks at the end of the movie (Excellent job with that as well). But blind fizzle doesn’t work for me. I want reasoning, not just hey she doesn’t love him get over it. If it wasn’t for this hole, I think I would have thought it was a decent movie if still not a great one. Something like this is a disappointment to me as well, b/c you could have dedicated one small scene of the 2 characters speaking together to explain it all away and get back to the issue at hand. OR, explain it away while they are fighting and breaking up at the end as well. Just poor plot points which could have easily been included but were missed and thus killed the movie.

Verdict–> Blue Valentine is a downer plain and simple. There is a lot not to like for a lot of people, such as explicit sex confusing time lines/flashbacks, and HUGE plot/story holes. It’s not so much holes for art’s sake but more a poor decsion by the writer IMHO. There will be people who like artsy type movies and love to be depressed or watch downer movies. THOSE people will love it. If you like any of the GeekJock picks and like my taste RUN AWAY NOW. IF you have to try it out for yourself then don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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