Ryan Gosling can do no wrong on-screen and Michelle Williams is also very strong in this sombre look at relationships in real life.

I admire this film's honest portrayal of how love can sometimes go. It's heartbreaking and beautiful... but doesn't make uplifting viewing. As an outsider looking in, you just wish you could sit them both down and talk things through.

The film is worth seeing purely for the improvisation - after slaving over the script for nearly 17 years (I think), the director scrapped most of it in favour of shooting scenes by giving each character a goal/focus unbeknownst to the other. What results is so blisteringly real, it'll tear your heart out.