Turning 31 yesterday, Ryan Thomas Gosling has fully emerged on the worldwide scene as a force to be reckoned with. After gaining more than the approval of women everywhere in “The Notebook“, Gosling then starred in “Half Nelson“, which earned him a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards. After a 3 year hiatus during the making of Blue Valentine [review], Gosling has had a huge 2011, with a role in Crazy, Stupid, Love, Drive and Ides of March, three completely different roles and all three movies very successful.
With a full-bodied body of work now behind him, the future holds infinite possibilities, and his upcoming works all look to be very promising, with another Drive-esque crime drama coming in 2013, a 40’s/50’s gangster movie with Sean Penn in 2012, a Terrence Malickmovie in 2013, and another Nicolas Winding Refnmovie about thai-boxing. Awesome.
Fun fact: Was a member of the Mickey Mouse Club, and at one point lived with Justin Timberlake’s family.
A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.
After seeing Big Fish and Moulin Rouge, I always make sure to keep up with Ewan McGregor‘s work. He tends to do non-blockbusters, and usually movies with some heart. So when I saw a him in a movie written and directed by Mike Mills with Christopher Plummer co-starring, I jumped right on ship. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it out to the city to see it in theaters, but I am just now able to get a good copy of it. Let’s begin!
McGregor plays Oliver, a graphic artist who has just lost his father Hal [Plummer] to cancer a few months ago. He is sort of a loner now, but finds a relationship with Anna, a French actress played by Mélanie Laurent. Her lifestyle makes for many similarities with Oliver. Throughout the film are scenes of Oliver with his father after coming out and being diagnosed. There are also portions in which McGregor narrates pictures of things from certain times, and each time they do it different connections are made, giving a really nice flow to the movie.
The movie is about relationships, and if you don’t believe the characters, you won’t believe what the movie has to say. The acting in this movie is exemplary. Plummer giving probably the best performance of the movie, and one of the better ones I’ve seen this year. But McGregor and Laurent also perform wonderfully. It is a great ensemble who work very well together.
The film shows love in all its forms, whether it be between man and woman, a man and a man, a parent and child, or man and dog. But love is a complicated thing, and its complications are also shown. The story that is told is whole and complete. We aren’t given false hopes or pessimistic outlooks. And the end of the film, we are left satisfied, and agreeing with the film’s name.
It’s not really a film that I think I will watch more than once, as there is nothing really enticing or unique about it. It is a just a very sound little movie that is good for a watch by most anyone.
My Rating
3.0/4.0 – A charming film about relationships, be it between man and woman, man and man, father and son, or man and dog. With delightful performances from Christopher Plummer and crew, Beginners is a good film with a whole story that leaves you satisfied and hopeful.
The film centers on a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.
Blue Valentine is a movie that has a lot of interesting tid-bits that I learned about before seeing it, or having an interest in seeing it, that helped to generate my curiosity. First off, it was almost rated ‘NC-17’ for its nudity and sex scenes, but was eventually changed to an ‘R’ rating. There is also a lot of interesting things about writer/director Derek Cianfrance‘s writing and creating this movie, like the male lead’s appearance being based on himself, and certain methods of improve added into the acting. But I think the most interesting part lies with Michelle Williams. While the movie was being made, the tragedy that was Heath Ledger‘s death occurred, the two being in a relationship and having a daughter. Out of respect for her, Cianfrance halted production for several months. This became her comeback movie, and she received an Acadamy Award nomination for leading actress. An event like that must lead to a powerful performance, so why not check it out?
The film is pretty well summed up, presentation wise, by the summary above. Different parts of Dean [Ryan Gosling] and Cindy [Williams]’s lives and relationship. Like most all relationships, there are highs and there are lows, and we witness both. Through these ups and downs we are treated to the same thing, and that is the on-screen chemistry. The performances by both Gosling and Williams are really quite superb. Williams clearly had a lot to draw from on an emotional level, and Gosling must just be damn good. IMDb says that these two spent a month living and “aging’ together, doing things together and “learning how to argue”. I’ll easily say that such an experience paid off.
The story itself isn’t really anything new, but it is well thought-out and paced, with enough time to have the scenes set in and have some depth before switching between the time line. We are shown things that contribute to the relationship, and nothing that is really too trivial or ambiguous. That being the case, however, there really isn’t too much that will surprise you, especially if you know the nature of relationships.
In the end, you are left feeling for the characters and almost wish you could see what is to come next, which is a bittersweet kind of thing to be left with, but I love it.
The technical aspects of the film didn’t really jump out at me, which is not necessarily a bad thing for a romance/drama. I’m a soundtrack guy, though, and this one didn’t catch my ears as other movies have. Nothing bad, though, just not great.
My Rating
3.0/4.0 – With extremely strong lead performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine is a story about an all too common style of relationships and their highs and lows that most any of us can relate to, especially when the actors make you feel for their characters.
– 69.5%
Bob's Movie Reviews 