Frankie is in full-time, year-round childcare/preschool. She is heading out the door in the morning with Cindy even on July 3rd, when the regular school year is not in session. The reason Frankie is hanging out during the day with her grandfather on July 4th is that it is a Federal holiday and her childcare is probably closed.
Dean does not stay home and take care of Frankie. He is employed as a painter. He could try doing something else with his potential during the workday. It wouldn't disturb Frankie's routine, and Cindy would probably be delighted.
Okay, I didn't get all that on first viewing. You must have seen this film more than once. ;] Thanks for summing that up. I now understand that Cindy is even more busy than I thought, stressed out.
About Dean's potential: he's a guy who found the love of his life, the perfect woman. This is IT for him. A career, money or succes will never ever give him anything close to what he feels for Cindy. He never seemed to have much ambition anyway, and no real skills, except for being a really nice, caring guy and fooling around, playing instruments - but all just to make her laugh. Making Cindy happy is all he wants to do, but he can't, anymore. She's come to resent him for his childish puppy-dog ways, which were once charming and fun to her, and he turns to the bottle.
Some guys smoke pot, others watch or play sports or online games, repair cars - to get away from reality for a bit. Dean drinks, but he's pretty far from a mean drunk. I can't really hold that against him to be honest.
I agree that Cindy wants to be a working professional. However, I disagree that she is jealous of Dean's bond with Frankie. She is impatient when Dean undermines her discipline; for example, when he encourages Frankie to spill cereal on the table. She wants him to help her daughter grow up by showing a good example, not by being a childish bad example.
Cindy is a very professional mom, yes, but she's no fun. It seems like she's left that department entirely to Dean, and Frankie is crazy about her dad, not so much her mother. That's gotta sting.
I counted three occasions on which Cindy compared Dean to a child. Most women will say: 'of course, he is still a kid right?' But men don't like to be compared to children. It's immasculating. For most. Some can laugh about it, but not thrice in 90 minutes. I've heard the men-are-kids thing over and over. Seems to be some hollow female joke. Women are also very much still (part) child. It's just that men actually often LIKE them for that...
My guess is that Cindy has trouble having fun. At all. She resents herself for it, and Dean. For taking up all the fun with Frankie. Frankie is essential in this film; we open en close on her. Someone once said: 'men and women have only one thing in common: kids.'
Cindy left Dean a note saying that she had been called in to work. She has to drive 2 hours from the motel just to get to the office and start her working day. So she leaves really early. Dean doesn't see the note right away, but we watch him read it and tear it up.
Wow. I need to pay more attention and/or get my memory checked. And watch Blue Valentine again. Okay. So minus two points for Dean. He must have been desperate. But why did he even show up at her work? To talk about...?
I still think leaving a note was lame, because it was their (not so) romantic weekend together. She could at least have woken him up. Also: she could have refused. She tried halfheartedly. With that she symbolically picks her career over (fighting for) her marriage. Her mind is made up. When she gets to the hospital, her immediate career dreams are shattered by her boss. Who basically tells her he loves her. Who knows where that could have led, had Dean not messed it up for her right away by barging in and getting her fired. Which leaves Cindy with even less.
Now that I think of it, the third act is really impressive. So many things going on on som many levels. Thank you for clearing things up for me! :]
Ignore the door.
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