Film

Blue Valentine

Name: Blue Valentine
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 2010
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, John Doman, Mike Vogel, Ben Shenkman

Blue Valentine cuts between the electric first days of a romance and the wreckage of the marriage it becomes, refusing to tell you which order to feel it in. Gosling and Williams give performances so unguarded they seem accidental. It's handheld, close, and unsentimental about how love curdles. Not date-night viewing — it's for anyone who wants two people failing each other honestly, without villains.

TMDb rating

7.0

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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Same subject — a love that curdles under pressure neither partner can control — but told in the heightened, theatrical register of old Hollywood instead of handheld naturalism.

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