I intellectually understand that Blue Valentine is a great movie. I didn’t enjoy watching it, especially after a court day. What makes it great: cinema verite style, contrasting use of filming methods, great actors and terrific concept. What makes it somewhat excruciating to watch? I watch a lot of movies so when a director repeatedly shows someone using the toilet, I know that the director is trying to tell me that Blue Valentine is an honest approach to life that hides nothing when Blue Valentine is just as stylized as most films just in a different way. While the spirit of the story works, I think that the actual complications in the story are fraught with so many problems that actually take away from just showing a couple fall in love and break up. I’m not saying that it isn’t realistic, but at times, it feels too contrived for something that is also supposed to be unflinching.

SPOILERS

She seemingly has a boyfriend, who accidentally gets her pregnant, then meets Ryan Gosling and marries him. Fair enough, but he knows that isn’t his kid. Then over time he transforms into a balding, paunchy bald American eagle insensitive drunken lout. I think that Blue Valentine is trying to say that he may have changed physically, but not inside. I just think that they were trying too hard to make him like her father. Couldn’t everyone be more boring and still break up instead of a big brouhaha? I just wanted it to be more like mumble core. Can’t he just take her for granted and get complacent. He seems to become a parody of an ugly American. I married Ryan Gosling and ended up with Archie Bunker. I did enjoy that before he meets her, essentially Gosling’s talk with his coworker that men meet a woman and want her forever, but a woman wants perfection then would settle for someone who could be responsible summarized the relationship albeit a huge generalization of gender roles. I did like that initially they could be together, have no plans to desperately and still have the best time versus trying to spark something in a sad motel and failing to connect. I think that it would have been better if he didn’t become a drunken lout, but was still sensitive guy who STILL ended up with a broken marriage. The sudden pregnancy was a bit much and made me think, “Why was she happy to see that guy? That whole scene plays wrong now that I know the context.” If you’re sensitive to explicit se