The end of a marriage is one of the most painful and agonizing things a person can experience. Losing out on love is never easy and when combined with having to find adequate legal representation, the dissolution of a marriage can drive the calmest person insane. Just what is it like to have to endure such a painful process? Marriage Story, the latest film from director Noah Baumbach, attempts to document the answer through the story of Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), an actress and Charlie (Adam Driver), a stage director as they navigate their divorce amidst Nicole’s move to Los Angeles from New York City and pressure from lawyers, family, and their son while still processing their own emotions.
While Marriage Story is notably a tale of the deterioration of a relationship, the film excels in its portrayal of the life cycle of love in totality, from the blissfulness when things are going swimmingly to the frustration and rage that occurs after it all falls apart. The film’s brilliant opening is indicative of how fine that line can be as it sets the stage by having Nicole and Charlie describe what first attracted them to one another and what they like about the other, only for us to find at the end of the film that the circumstance surrounding these loving screeds is not what it appears to be. Indeed the process of falling out of love with someone is simultaneously a long, slow burn and something that feels sudden as director Noah Baumbach brilliantly lays out. We see Nicole and Charlie experience the full emotional spectrum of a breakup; hurt, sadness, resentment, anger. Marriage Story also manages to make clear that the failing of their marriage is something that built slowly over time and as the divorce process moves forward, the issues that led to their growing apart are made clearer. The film doesn’t choose sides explicitly and while Charlie’s mistakes are more overt and obvious, Nicole isn’t entirely let off the hook either. I didn’t leave the theater blaming one person more than the other and isn’t that how most relationships end, with a portion of blame assigned to all involved? Watching the conclusion of Nicole and Charlie’s union isn’t all pain and gloom however, the underlying message is surprisingly one of hope for a film about an emotional divorce. By the film’s conclusion, it is clearly communicated that there can not only be life following a breakup, but love for your ex-partner as well. It may not be the romantic love you once shared, but memories of what you had and an amicable path forward as cordial acquaintances is not out of the question. Love exists in many forms and maybe we too often think that the loss of love in a romantic context means we can never love the former object of our desires in any other way. By the end of Marriage Story, Nicole and Charlie have mapped a path forward together that is as sunny as a once bitter divorce can be. Perhaps it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all….
The clear strength of this film are the titanic performances of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in the lead roles. Their chemistry as lovers turned adversaries, pushed in multiple directions by their own emotions and outside forces navigating them through the dissolving of their union will completely engross audiences. Johansson does a masterful job of portraying how the pain one experiences during a breakup is always looming underneath the surface, ready to explode at a moment’s notice despite of any appearance of having it together on the outside. Her gradual change from reluctant divorcée to newly independent woman finding confidence in her voice is convincing and strong. Her performance caps off an incredible onscreen year for her and brings her total Oscar worthy performances to two. Adam Driver is equally great as Charlie, persuasively portraying a husband blindsided by the end of his marriage, left to pick up the pieces, find what went wrong, and try to survive what happens next. Charlie’s selfishness is revealed over the course of the film and the obliviousness Driver acts out so effectively helps to bolster that aspect of the character. Charlie’s pain and confusion gradually evolves into anger, culminating in one of the year’s best scenes between Driver and Johannson where Nicole and Charlie finally directly and fully address their grievances with each other in an explosive, impassioned argument at Charlie’s new apartment. The hurt and exasperation on display in the scene is one of the finest displays of acting talent you’ll see this year and why both actors are awards front-runners.
Marriage Story also features notable supporting performances from Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Merrit Wever, and Julie Hagerty. For all its emotion, the film is also extremely humorous and its supporting cast supplies many of said laughs. Dern’s turn as a win-at-all-costs, part feminist, part cutthroat lawyer is very memorable and will be sure stir up as much feeling in viewers as the relationship at the film’s center will. Some will find her to be a scummy opportunist, driving a wedge in what could have been an amicable split, while some will find her to be a zealous advocate for women who need one during trying times. Such is the life of a lawyer, right? Marriage Story paints a striking picture of the legal side of divorce and the machinations of the family law system, much of which will be eye-opening for those who have never experienced it. The effect the intensely adversarial nature of a split has people who are already confused and grieving is visceral and made clear in the film. Wever and Hagerty are hilarious as Nicole’s sister Cassie and mother Sandra, providing much needed moments of levity in an otherwise heavy film. One bit involving Cassie, Nicole, Charlie, and a subpoena is uncomfortably hysterical and sure to be memorable.
Noah Baumbach has managed to create a story about love lost that will resonate with audiences and cause them to laugh, cry, recoil, and reflect. His portrayal of a marriage in deterioration feels so real due to the dialogue, story beats, and even cinematography he puts to screen. Much of the framing shots including Nicole and Charlie (like the cover photo on this review) places the couple far apart from one another, making clear the distance that has grown between them. The director also smartly includes plenty of comedy to keep the mood from being too dour and losing some of the audience with funny supporting characters and a running joke throughout the film about how spacious LA is when compared to New York. Scarlett Johannson and Adam Driver bolster what Baumbach has written with magnificent performances encapsulating the roller-coaster of emotion involved in deciding to turn what was intended to be a lifetime together into something finite and temporary. Marriage Story is an emotional tour de force that is sure to connect with audiences.
Image: Netflix
