Blue Valentine

Spanning a six-year-period, Blue Valentine is an intense, extraordinarily intimate, but convoluted depiction of a tumultuous, yet doomed relationship. Cutting back and forth between the end and the beginning of a romance, the story introduces married couple Cindy (Oscar nominee Michelle Williams) and Dean (Ryan Gosling), who are living in Brooklyn with a kindergarten-age daughter named Frankie. Diligent Cindy works hard as a nurse in a physician's office, while Dean's an underachieving moving-man/house-painter. She's subtly reserved; he oozes a twitchy, brash physicality. When the family dog is accidentally killed, the pair decide to ship Frankie off overnight while they figure out how to tell the child. Dean decides to drunkenly celebrate this night “off” from parenthood by cashing in a gift certificate for a blue-toned, future-themed motel room. Writer-director Derek Cianfrance deliberately scheduled filming scenes of the idyllic beginning of the relationship first, using a handheld camera to capture when their life together was fun and alive in contrast to what later happens (the “present” is shown in high-definition video and the “past” on Super 16mm). Blue Valentine is a grim and gritty acting showcase, acclaimed for its earthy naturalism at Sundance and Cannes (initially garnering notoriety with an NC-17 rating, which was subsequently changed to an R). A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Derek Cianfrance and co-editor Jim Helton, a “making-of” featurette (14 min.), deleted scenes (20 min.), a “home movie” segment featuring costar Michelle Williams (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a well-acted if uneven film.] (S. Granger)