Controversy is brewing around the Internet today as Deadline reports the MPAA has slapped the Weinstein Co.’s upcoming Oscar contender Blue Valentine with an NC-17 rating. Having seen the film at Cannes (read my review here) I, for the life of me, cannot figure out what the MPAA was thinking with such a rating and there isn’t an exact rating that’s been release yet, though Mike Fleming at Deadline reports the following as the reasoning he’s received:
I’m told the rating was given for a scene in which the characters played by Gosling and Williams try to save their crumbling marriage by spending a night away in a hotel. They get drunk and their problems intensify when he wants to have sex and she doesn’t, but will to get him off her back. That hurts his pride and the result is an upsetting scene that makes you squirm, but is an honest one that establishes clearly that this couple has nothing left and isn’t going to make it because love has turned into contempt. There is barely any nudity in the scene, as I recall (though I haven’t seen it since last January) and there is no violence. It was hardly a moment that would make you think, well here comes an NC-17.
Like Fleming, it’s been some time since I saw the film, but I, in absolutely no way, would have ever considered the film obscene or offensive enough to warrant an NC-17 rating. I didn’t particularly like the film, outside of two excellent lead performances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, but as far as this being a film needing such a harsh rating is uncalled for.
That said, the same day this bit of ratings controversy erupts, Yahoo has debuted the brand new trailer for the film. Could this ratings controversy be a conspiracy conjured up by the Weinstein’s to garner additional attention the same day the trailer is released? In all honesty, I wouldn’t put it past Harvey to have done just that, but I doubt it.
Blue Valentine centers on a couple (Gosling and Williams) whose marriage is failing, and as their relationship hits the rocks, they recall better days. The film is currently set for a December 31 release. Check out the trailer directly below, and, again, you can read my review from Cannes right here.
