blogger must have a server outrage or something because they were down today and i could not recover two posts that i wrote yesterday. ah never mind, just my luck.
anyhow, i found an alternative view of the film blue valentine (2010) from imdb.com
I came away from this film more wary of love and relationships than any film I've ever seen. You look at Dean's character (Gosling's best role to-date) and wonder what it is that he did wrong. He fell for a beautiful, young woman (Williams), stepped-up to care for her and her yet-unborn daughter, and shifted his life to focus entirely on being a good husband and father. He was so charming in his interactions with his daughter, and was also loving towards his wife enduring more rejection from her than most could, trying to breathe love back into the relationship. Even his outbursts seemed attempts to give her what she wanted.
So many reviews talk about this being a story of falling in and out of love. My response is surely subjective, but I don't feel Cindy ever loved Dean. She was desperate, pregnant and facing life as a young parent, and Dean was there to hold her. As a mother and wife, I found her to be unlikeable and selfish, cold and unloving. Cindy was probably not intentionally manipulative, but from her initial reluctance to tell Dean about her pregnancy, to her secrecy around her job offer or the encounter in the grocery store, these are all subtle manipulations and lies, hiding the truth (and her true self) from Dean.
I heard the director say he was sympathetic to both characters. Any sympathy I had for Cindy as a young woman caught in a relationship and family she did not hope for was overshadowed by the fact that she made the choices that led her there, and dragged others in with her. I did not sense any growth in her character to indicate she'd move on to create a brighter future for herself and Frankie.
Dean, on the other hand, was a good person, eager to love, and all-too-willing to devote his life to Cindy and daughter Frankie (a sparse, but strong, performance by Faith Wladyka), and in the end, he's left with a broken heart and a broken home. I'd love to feel he's better-off without Cindy, if only it weren't so heartbreakingly clear that he loves her and her daughter immensely.
To me, the film served as a warning in love to be careful where you put your energy.
Somehow, the description reminded me of the Lucas Black character in Legion alongside Adrienne Palicki. Although the execution of the movie left much to be desired, but the characters as played by the actors, were well done.
ReplyDeletesnuze: dah tgk blue valentine?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I want to watch it. It's got that girl who was in Dawson's Creek (which I watched snippets of for Jensen Ackles, poor baby). I found her annoying and a terrible actress. Perhaps she is better now but I don't like Ryan Gosling either. He's just got this look that raises my hackles. But then again, I don't think I've seen him act.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I like watching movies that make me happy. Too close to reality movies like that ... not something I would seek. What can I say? I am a movie Phillistine. *grin*
Snuze: hehe yeah gosling has that over confident look but he's got pretty good mannerism which makes his acting works in depressing situations. I think he was miscasted in fracture (2007). Thankfully i didnt layan dawson's creek and the like else i would have similar reservations like i have for katie holmes and kristen dunst. Its not good for one's career to keep playing bf/gf. Michelle williams was surprisingly good in a number of movies i've seen - in line with a theory i have that actress muka biasa2 are better actors.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with happy ending movies. I watch adam sandler stuff for the same reason - i just want to laugh like crazy over the most silly things :)