THAT THING YOU NEVER TALK ABOUT

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2020)

The thread of a Wedding Story seems to be divorce, but what director Noah Baumbach reveals is a glimpse of real-life in a relationship between two people. That thing you never talk about, regarding opposite and undesirable affections that arise, and what you see are two people who genuinely love each other by taking unthinkable and disloyal attitudes to each other.
At the beginning of the movie, it's possible to know the strengths of the two protagonists. They write a description that each made about the other at the request of a mediator. We found out that Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) is a loving mother, great listener, concerned about her mother and sister, and never closes the cabinet. Charlie (Adam Driver), on the other hand, is a talented and creative theater director, extraordinarily competitive and devours his meals.
Entering the intimacy of the couple, who has gone through previous crises, makes life difficult for the viewer accustomed to taking sides. Logically, some dirt on the couple is dug up. Charlie has already cheated on Nicole once and rarely takes her personal needs into account. Nicole goes to LA to film the pilot of a TV series and kind of kidnaps the couple's son to live there permanently, the fact that Charlie only learns of when he is surprised by the divorce papers.
The performances reinforce this documentary idea: both Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are convincing in their performances. Each receives a monologue from the director: Charlie at the bar and Nicole with the horrible Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern, fantastic!). Also, there is a dialogue, or rather, an unthinkable argument, that famous final round in which one says what is not to be told and what is frightened is heard.
Rarely does the film sounds conventional or excessive, as in musical numbers, which perhaps worked better in the theater. But in general, it is a beautiful movie, a work of fiction that manages to scratch real life and makes us feel that the couple should be together, even though we know it would not work. Or it rather would.