The 2010 film ‘Blue Valentine,’ featuring characters Dean Pereira and Cindy Heller, played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, explores the ups and downs of love and relationships. Still, the ending of this movie leaves us with questions, wondering what really happened to the couple.
‘Blue Valentine’ is about the relationship between Dean and Cindy. We meet them as a married couple with a daughter, Frankie, struggling to keep their love alive. The movie then takes us back in time to when they were very different individuals.
Dean is a free spirit who avoids settling down, while Cindy is ambitious and has a checklist for her life. However, they are drawn to each other. We later learn that Cindy became pregnant by her abusive ex-boyfriend, Bobby. Dean, though initially upset, decides to support her.
Cindy ultimately chooses to keep the child, and Dean, deeply in love, marries her. He becomes a devoted husband and father. But happiness eludes them. Dean works as a house painter, while Cindy pursues a nursing career. As they become a family, their relationship starts to unravel.
Cindy becomes increasingly frustrated with Dean’s lack of ambition and drinking while Dean struggles to comprehend what has gone wrong. Their marriage deteriorates, leading to a heated argument where they discuss divorce. The film concludes with Dean walking away from their relationship while Cindy and Frankie head in a different direction.
We don’t know whether it’s a permanent or temporary separation. So, the ending allows viewers to interpret it as they wish. One comment in the IMDB trivia said:
“Some have speculated that Dean and Cindy have ended their marriage. One of the photos during the end credits shows Dean and Cindy running backward, holding a sign with ‘Is This You?’ on it, hinting at the upcoming dissolution of their marriage.”
Another review published in the Huffington Post in 2011 explained:
“Their love has gone missing, and Cianfrance leaves it up to the viewer to decide what happened to it. He empathizes with both characters and doesn’t ignore the maddening reality that a relationship, like fruit or eyesight, can go can bad from nothing but the passage of time.”
The movie was highly praised by critics, earning Williams nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama. Gosling also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Drama.