So I was more than excited to finally get to see this movie when it went wide in my city finally. I had been hearing nothing but rave reviews, the trailer looked amazing (and was edited quite nicely I must say), and these two actors have been doing so well recently that I was in abundant anticipation for this film. The movie took a long time for the director to pull off, around 13 years. It was a labor of love and that's exactly what kind of films deserve this type of attention. It's grossed over $4 million worldwide in it's short run so far and has now quadrupled it's $1 million budget. That's pretty impressive considering it's only opened up in 230 theaters domestically and these are two household name actors.
The film is billed as a contemporary love two between a young married couple, played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. It tracks their relationship throughout it's different stages.
This movie has been called many things; 'anti-love', 'real love', 'what happens after happily ever after'. In any case, it is exactly what it claims to be; a contemporary love story. There are no Hollywood cliche's found in this movie. There's no sugar coating any of the subject matter. Heck, it was slapped with an NC-17 rating which they had to appeal to get it knocked down to rated R. These characters were written very well. They were dynamic and had their own personalities. They evolved throughout the story, which is quite rare and hard to do in two hours. The story was written well, with arcs and climaxes without being cliched and predictable. It felt real. Very real. This felt like a true story about these two people being reenacted on screen. The dialogue was written well and kept pace with the movie. There wasn't a lot of action but the pace still flowed smoothly and didn't drag.
The movie was filmed quite beautifully. The color correction in the movie was breathtaking and the lenses were perfect. The color themes of the different scenes matched the mood and helped to keep the movie consistent while weaving through time in the plot. It shows you that you don't need millions of dollars to film a beautiful movie. The wardrobe and makeup was also quite nice and fitting with this movie. They truly made Ryan Gosling look old and middle-aged. Although I'm not convinced that his hair would have receded so far in only about 5-6 year, give or take.
The amazing thing about the movie, besides the plot, was the fantastic acting. Ryan Gosling has really done quite well with his roles in his book of work. He really became this character and you could see how he was feeling and where his motives lay. He was able to play this character at different stages of his life and still be the same person but different, affected by time and experience. You'd think that they actually filmed this at different stages in his life if you didn't know better. Michelle Williams proves she's so much more than Dawson's Creek. She's also been doing great roles recently. They actually pushed the filming of this movie back from 2008 due to Heath Ledger's death so they could keep her in this role. Great decision. She had a wonderful dynamic with Gosling and you could see both of these characters in each other.
Overall, it was a fantastic movie. With this much media attention, you might find yourself expecting some sort of gut-wrenching emotional raw drama - but that's not the case. This is real acting. It feels real. Life is subdued and anti-climatic. You might also expect some fast paced type of plot that just pops on screen, but that's also not the case. It's not some crazy far-fetched plot that will have you talking for days. Again, it's simply a real plot. It's as if these characters weren't fiction. The acting also makes the movie superb. It proves that cliches, millions of dollars, and crazy plot twists aren't necessary for a great movie. If you're looking for a real movie about a real relationship, then it's for you. As for the R rating, I didn't find this movie any more explicit that any other R movies. Where the NC17 came from, I'm not sure. "I like how you can compliment and insult somebody at the same time, in equal measure" -- Blue Valentine
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