The MPAA’s classification and rating appeals board agreed to downgrade to R following a personal plea by Harvy Weinstein today [8].

The decision marks a considerable victory for The Weinstein Company ahead of the film’s release on December 31.

Even though the MPAA did not require any edits to Derek Cianfrance’s drama, the milder classification will make it more palatable in the eyes of audiences and awards season voters.

The MPAA initially awarded the restrictive rating for “a scene of explicit sexual content” between Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, who play a married couple going through a break-up.

The Burbank-based organisation awarded the new R rating for “strong graphic sexual content, language and a beating.”