No one ever said love is easy. In the latest film from director Sam Levinson, we follow a couple in Hollywood who learns this the hard way during one late night at home. Malcolm (John David Washington), a young director on the rise returns home following a celebratory movie premiere with his girlfriend Marie (Zendaya) as he awaits what’s sure to be imminent critical and financial success. The evening suddenly takes a turn as revelations about their relationships begin to surface, testing the strength of their love.
It is ironic that a film about a relationship between two people teetering on the edge is powered almost solely by the undeniable chemistry of the same two people. Both Zendaya and John David Washington crumble apart so beautifully as they convincingly portray lovers who have left things unsaid for far too long until the resentment and hurt bubbling to the surface, no longer able to be swept under the rug. The breaking point, Malcolm’s failure to thank Marie in his acceptance speech for a film that is ostensibly based on her life’s struggles as a recovering addict, should be familiar to anyone who has ever been in a relationship where the larger issues at hand end up being raised after a small crack opens up the dam. The ensuing conversations surrounding self-esteem, support for the other partner that isn’t acknowledged, jealousy both professional and romantic, and identity paint the picture that love, unlike the film’s lush cinematography is anything but black and white.
The conversations don’t break any new ground, but Washington and Zendaya’s selling of a young couple in pain and turmoil sell the relationship at the center of the film and create a compelling watch. Some of the best acting that both do is sans dialogue, with the emotion and heartbreak worn on their faces amidst sad eyes and the tracks of tears. Again, viewers that have been in love as its been severely tested can attest to the worst heartbreak also often being the most silent. The range of emotion from Malcolm and Marie as they bring each other to account is skillfully achieved by both actors in what may be each of their best performances to date. It is with these moments that the film reaches its greatest heights.
Malcolm & Marie has been marketed as the story of two lovers in turmoil, so imagine the surprise to discover just how inside baseball its running subplot is. While the couple comes to a standoff regarding the status of their relationship and what their connection has meant and may mean in the future, Levinson uses Malcolm’s occupation as a passionate film director to dissect the eternal tug and pull between film directors and film critics that review their work. The film begins with not so subtle commentary on the whiteness of the film industry through examining the overwhelming homogeneity of my own industry of film criticism. While good points are made about our trade, they slow down the film for the average viewer who likely won’t care about how the sausage is made or how the critics critique its taste. The time spent addressing the plight of artists’ visions not being adequately analyzed for the masses by those who are paid to do so could be spent delving more deeply into the characters’ pathos and the intricacies of their relationship.
If I were forced to do what I usually hate to do and make a comparison between films, Malcolm & Marie takes the best parts of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Woody Allen’s classic relationship stories, and Scenes from a Marriage puts a modern twist on them. Its jazzy and soulful score fits the film’s depiction of lovers at a crossroads and its sultry black and white cinematography give the film a classic and intimate feel that achieves the artsy aesthetic that Levinson so obviously sought to achieve. Still, the film’s pacing and most interesting aspect, the tension and rancor between John David Washington and Zendaya acting as frustrated lovers, is interrupted when Levinson chooses to use his script to riff on the state of cinema and its surrounding culture. The choice, while not torpedoing the film, does prevent it from reaching its full potential.
Image: Netflix
