How Long Is “Blue Valentine”?

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in (and executive produce) Derek Cianfrance's drama that lays bare the final throws of a dying relationship. Cindy (Williams) holds down a career in nursing, with all its attendant pressures, while her husband Dean (Gosling) has taken on the role of looking after their young daughter Frankie (Faith Wladyka), as well as picking up house-moving or painting jobs when they crop up. When they met, he was an enthusiastic believer in romantic love, she - in addition to being won over by his devotion to her - was keen to avoid the manipulative and chauvinistic influences of her father (John Doman) and her then boyfriend (Mike Vogel). But now they've been together six years and an everyday event is set to have dramatic consequences, which initially upsets their daughter but quickly lights the touchpaper that finally explodes their marriage. Cianfrance doesn't dwell on the middle of this couple's trajectory, instead concentrating on the start of their time together, where, despite their happiness, the cracks that will become their rift are already apparent, as well as on the endplay to their partnership; and Gosling and Williams deliver strong, convincing performances throughout. Network Premiere.