Michelle Williams was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in this film. And Ryan Gosling was not, which is a shame. His performance is the more active, the more tender, the more heartbreaking. This is a story of married couple on the decline. The wife has lost the love she had for her husband (I'm not sure she ever had it to begin with...) and the husband has dedicated himself to being there for his wife and her baby (which is not his...).
Ryan Gosling's character makes a comment to one of his co-workers and it summarizes the central point of the film -- " I feel like men are more romantic than women. When we get married we marry, like, one girl, 'cause we're resistant the whole way until we meet one girl and we think I'd be an idiot if I didn't marry this girl she's so great. But it seems like girls get to a place where they just kinda pick the best option... 'Oh he's got a good job.' I mean they spend their whole life looking for Prince Charming and then they marry the guy who's got a good job and is gonna stick around."
He loves her and she stopped loving him. Heartbreaking...
