Rabbit Hole and Blue Valentine

I just saw the movies “Rabbit Hole” and “Blue Valentine,” and I was pleasantly surprised by both of them.  I’m not one for the broken family, flawed character, relationship examination type of film, so I went into both films expecting something similar to “Rachel Getting Married.”  Both films were very different from one another, but featured amazing performances from Nicole Kidman, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling.

“Rabbit Hole” follows a couple, played by Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, as they try to pick up the pieces after their young son is killed in an accident.  It’s easy to see why Kidman’s performance as Becca is getting Oscar buzz.  There are no gimmicks to Kidman’s role, which just requires a raw and heartfelt performance as a grieving mother.  Watching Becca’s journey through the grief is touching, as she grapples with marital troubles, loss of purpose and daily reminders of her son.

“Blue Valentine” takes viewers through the beginning of a relationship with the novelty and the highs, and the end of a relationship with the boredom, the sadness and the lows.  The film doesn't answer the question of what happens between then, and now, but Gosling's character, Dean provides insight into the differences between men and women and how they approach love.  Dean tells his coworker that men are more romantic because they will wait for the perfect girl.  Women, on the other hand, settle for a man that meets their needs at any given moment.  Dean satisfied Cindy's needs when her world was falling apart, but he believed he had found his one true love.  As we see Dean and Cindy in the present, it is clear that Dean hasn't changed much from when the two first met, but Cindy's needs have changed tremendously.

Gosling's acting in "Blue Valentine" is top notch, and though he may get nominated for an Oscar, winning is a long-shot against Colin Firth and James Franco.  Just like Kidman's performance in "Rabbit Hole," there are no gimmicks to Gosling’s role.  He is not portraying King George VI in Great Britain on the brink of World War 2.  Nor is he playing a man who had to cut his own arm off after becoming trapped by a boulder in Utah.  Instead he’s Dean, a balding, twenty-something trying to make sense of his withering marriage.  Gosling has gotten attention before for his roles in “Lars and the Real Girl,” and “Half Nelson,” both of which were indie flicks like “Blue Valentine.”  Perhaps his time will come when he does a bigger budget film by a larger studio.