Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine
Dean and Cindy live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage.
Oliver Reznik reviewedApril 8, 2025
How did I end up randomly selecting two 3-star divorce movies from back-to-back years to watch on back-to-back nights?
Blue Valentine, great acting, again. Somewhat more interesting characters than A Separation. I mean I guess it's just more relatable being about Americans. But it's less attention-grabbing. There's drawn out sequences that emphasize the minutiae of naturalistic interactions. Handy for an authentic emotionally close vibe, but yeah, not the most attention-grabbing stuff.
SPOILERS
Blue Valentine feels like a response to "happily ever after" romance movies. Shows you what happily ever after could look like 5 years down the line when you haven't validated compatibility, even after a dreamy whirlwind romance.
I think it misses out on a good deal of poignancy though, because I never really got the feeling that they had a great relationship in the past or present when this movie takes place. Like there was some romantic stuff in the past story line. But also red flags. And it felt like a snapshot of a very fresh relationship which could go any which way by next Tuesday. So, I wasn't exactly mourning the breakup. I wish they made me care more, so it would hurt better. Getting divorced after 5 years when you're still getting hit on sounds pretty recoverable lol.
I mean, sucks for Frankie obviously. Another story about people perpetuating the damaging environment they grew up in.