Director: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams
Oscar Nominations: Best Lead Actress (Williams)
Story: A couple deals with the harsh realities of life that threaten the stability of their marriage.
Review: No film from last year affected me more deeply than this heartbreakingly real depiction of a failing marriage. This magnificent film achieves so much through natural performances and a beautiful simplicity in the way it details their problems. This is not a film filled with shouting matches (though there are a few such moments), but in fact the most gutwrenching moments come from the quiet arguments, where one person is clearly upset at the other and you can feel the unpleasantness and anger boiling underneath. All of this is juxtaposed with flashbacks showing the happy and sweet beginnings of their relationship. The two performances are astonishing. Ryan Gosling has been one of the most consistently great indie actors ever since his revelatory performance in The Believer and this may be his greatest yet. Michelle Williams builds on the outstanding natural work she did in the magnificent low key drama Wendy and Lucy and turns in another quietly powerful performance. Cianfrance and his co-writers do a great job of building the structure to this story so that the painful implications of the failing marriage only become truly apparent until the end.
Oscar Outlook: Unfortunately, Williams has no chance in the Lead Actress race.
Trivia: To prepare for the film, Gosling and Williams rented a house together and lived on a budget based on their character's incomes. This is the 2nd nomination for Williams, after being nominated for Supporting Actress in Brokeback Mountain.
No comments:
Post a Comment