I'm not normally a fan of films that make it big at Sundance, partly because it seems every film that is shown at Sundance gets undeserved hyperbolic buzz and partly because many of those films are of the irksome quirky comedy variety. Thankfully, Blue Valentine is far from a quirky comedy and it is the first Sundance film in a long time that I genuinely liked.

A lot of the publicity surrounding the film focused on the rawness of the subject matter, the two performances from Gosling and Williams and the narrative structure that flits back and forward in time. For once the structure is not just a novelty (well it sort of but it does genuinely add something to…

What a beautiful story.

I adore Michelle Williams, she has such a realistic sense of being, she doesn't even have to try and get the audiences attention, she just is herself and she is easily lovable. Ryan Gosling is always such a beautiful watch, he carries himself so strongly and he really puts himself out there for the audience, to make you feel.

This story shows how a relationship, is absolutely care-free in the beginning, how everything is just...so easy, loving someone, getting to know someone, having fun with someone, is just so easy. But then you get older and you get married and everything starts to get complicated and things can just easily fall apart. People fall out of…

Blue Valentine is a film with two outstanding performances, ultimately failing to deliver its emotional punch to me because of its forced disjointed narrative.

Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are absolutely amazing here. They give their characters much needed realism, so that we can connect to them, a connection established from the get go by being allowed a glimpse in their family life. It does not take long, however, to figure out that not all is well.

Throughout the film we delve into their relationship deeper, guided by a narrative that skips back and forth through time. It is done in such a way that it never becomes muddled and for the better part of the film it adds an…

Alvorens de poorten van het kaskrakerseizoen geopend worden, komt er op de golven van een zwoele zomerbries het ideale tegengif voor de infantiele zomerleut de multiplexen binnenwaaien. 'Blue valentine' heet het kleinood en de film in kwestie is een wrang en volwassen relatiedrama waarin relaties niet afgeschilderd worden als onconventionele tienerromances (we denken aan '500 days of summer') of zoals in een zeemzoete chick flick. Neen, met 'Blue valentine' lijkt het zelfs alsof de geest van Ken Loach of John Cassavetes zoek is geraakt in het gesuikerde romcom-land.

Net als in '500 days of Summer' (of François Ozons '5 X 2', voor de cinefielen onder u) volgt 'Blue valentine' het volledige verloop van een relatie in een versplinterd parcours: de…