A chronicle of the rise and fall of a relationship,
Blue Valentine benefits from strong casting with the perennially excellent Ryan Gosling and a solid turn from Michelle Williams, and scuppers a lot of the good work they do in developing a credible picture of how love turns sour by using the modishly overused multiple flashback method. The film jumps hyperactively from the present to various points in the couple's past without deigning to provide adequate signposting beyond the length of Gosling's hair and gains nothing in terms of layering, only dissipating the emotion built up. There are some things to be said for Dogme after all.
The characters are true to life, even if Gosling can do the hangdog loser in his sleep and the frustrated wife is a fairly standard sounding board for the aimless husband's draining presence. Their interaction, when whether mawkish, domesticated or end-of-tether, hits many painfully true notes. There are all the seeds of a wonderful film here. If only someone other than the director in question could reassemble it.
6/10
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