A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a gruelling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal and creative extremes.
Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever, Wallace Shawn
Release Date: December 13, 2019
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated R for language throughout and sexual references.
Runtime: 2h 17min
Review:
Noah Baumbach’s Marriage story is as subtle as it is familiar. You’d be hard pressed to ignore echos from films like 1979’s Kramer vs Kramer which starred Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep or even 1989’s The War of the Roses with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. Perhaps every generation needs one or two films that captures the slow-moving disintegration of a love story perhaps to act as a counterweight to the endless Rom-Coms that Hollywood churns out. Baumbach’s film does a fine job of capturing what those singular films have in the past by capturing the ordinary and mundane that can lead to larger life events. We never see the marriage in its heyday and it’s probably for the best that its only referred to but never explicitly shown, capturing how those fiery moment have faded into the mundane. At the film’s center are two performances that keep your attention even through the quieter moments which pepper the film. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson keep it watchable and engaging throughout. I’ll readily admit that I’ve never understood Driver’s appeal, in my opinion he’s been playing version of the same character since he first hit the screen, but it’s hard to ignore his measured but realistic performance. The film paints his character in a slightly more sympathetic light which makes him easier to like since the film tends to follow him more than Johansson. Scarlett Johansson is just as strong even if her character is a bit more distant from the center of the film. Still both are likable for the better part of the film even as things start to get more and more pointed leading to an explosive confrontation which is realistic in its gloves off emotional brutality. If this makes the film sound like a decidedly dour affair, it’s not. In fact, the film is an ebb and flow in emotions with moments of levity coming as readily as the sadder moments. The supporting actors all have fun moments with Laura Dern channeling her Big Little Lies character. Alan Alda and Ray Liotta both have smaller roles, but each leave a lasting impression and make you wish they’d been on screen just a tad more. As a whole, Marriage Story is a bitter sweet tale about what happens once the romantic comedy moments end
A
