Valentines Day is fast approaching...

For better or for worse. One of the most important vows a couple makes, when they stand before God and before their friends and family, is to spend the rest of their lives loving each other. For better or for worse.
Ponder that for a bit...

Here we have Blue Valentine. The title is appropriate, as a certain holiday is coming up and being the sucker for romance movies I am, I gave this one a try.

Blue Valentine is about a married couple who find themselves at an impass. While thinking about what they can do to make their lives work, the audience is taken back to when the couple first met and see when they fell in love.

Dean (Ryan Gosling) is a 20-something year old man who finds a job as a mover for a moving company. Cindy (Michelle Williams) is on her way to becoming a doctor. Both paths cross when Dean catches a glimpse of Cindy as he is leaving a retirement home (where Cindy spends time with her grandmother). Dean instantly realizes that he has experienced love at first sight. About a month later, he revisits the home in hopes of running into his lady love again. He doesn't, but instead sees her on the bus he takes home. And thus the fairytale story begins...

So how do they end up in such a rut? When do people start falling out of love? Is that even possible? Having seen my own parents break up, I think about it from time to time. Throughout the movie, when it goes from present day to the past, then back again, I get frustrated because I just don't see how this couple can fall out of love. If I wasn't watching this alone, I probably would have been more vocal with my frustrations.

Bravo to Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams on stellar performances. I found myself fighting for each character on separate occasions. That's what you're supposed to do as an actor right? Make the audience feel the emotions you (the actor) are trying to convey?
At times, I would be so enamoured with their lovey-dovey-ness. At other times, I just wanted to slap them both in the face and give them a piece of my mind.

Now I don't know what the message of the movie was, but what got me the most was when Dean confronted Cindy and said, "For better or for worse. You broke your promise..."

When I started watching Blue Valentine I was expecting an epic love story. Instead, I get this Debbie-downer of a movie that gets me thinking all about the downsides of love. Just what I needed this holiday. But in all seriousness. I'm not bashing the film. It's well done. The acting was great. I was really invested in the characters (maybe a little too invested) and it was worth watching. Just maybe not this close to Valentines Day...

With that aside -- I want to wish you all a very happy Valentines Day. Much love.