Do You Want Cupid's Cove, or Do You Want the Future Room?

Fair warning: if you are planning to watch "Blue Valentine" with your sweetheart tonight, you may end up crying in your chocolate mousse - and not for the right reasons. The movie is 120 minutes of pure heartbreak. The story cuts back and forth between the faltering marriage of Dean and Cindy, and the heady early days of their whirlwind romance. "Do you want Cupid's Cove, or do you want the Future Room?" Dean asks Cindy, as he tries to talk her into a weekend getaway at a sex motel.  As they dance and get drunk in the soulless, metallic "Future Room" that they've chosen for themselves, we realize why this story is especially poignant: it's precisely because the heartbreak is self-chosen.

Derek Cianfrance may be one of the most interesting American directors working today. The Place Beyond the Pines, while a cinematic tour de force (that motorcycle chase!!), ultimately fizzled out for me when Ryan Gosling left the screen. I didn't care about the second story involving the sons; I felt like it kind of meandered off into a place beyond the plot.  Personally, I like Blue Valentine better, and I think it holds up better narratively. Cianfrance shot the romance in lush, highly saturated Super16, and let two amazing actors (Gosling and Michelle Williams) pretty much improvise an entire relationship over the course of the production. The result feels intimate, fresh, and sincere.

 
Bittersweet and atmospheric, Blue Valentine may not be your first choice for Valentine's Day, but it is on Netflix now. (And who are we kidding, you were going to binge-watch House of Cards Season 2, anyway!)