Review: "Marriage Story" 9.5 /10

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2020)

With "Marriage Story," Writer/director Noah Baumbach goes to a dark place to assess the end of a life shared by two unhappy people, taking over two hours of screentime to assess the difficulties of a specifically challenged marital union.
"Marriage Story" is richly detailed, tastefully balanced with some needed comedy, and consistently attentive to the inner lives of the lead characters, who endure all the dehumanization of the divorce process in America. And yet, through the gloom and rising anxiety, Baumbach always preserves the heart of the moment, fleshing out the struggle of legal and emotional separation.
The film stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta co-star.
Johansson locates surprising areas of honesty for the character, working wonderfully with Baumbach's observant screenplay. Johansson plays an interesting foil, so long in the shadow of her high-profile husband despite being the face of his success in many ways. You can see the pain on her face, but it slowly turns defiant as she discovers a new life and a new (or perhaps rediscovered) sense of self in California. Her performance is Sublime.
Driver has grown into one of the most respected actors of his generation a fearless and magnetic screen presence capable of making you believe everything he's saying no matter the context. He spends much of the film in a bemused haze as their divorce proceedings turn from civil to contentious, unable to understand how things went so sour despite his role in fracturing their relationship. It's the sort of skillful and soulful performance that's expected of him now, and he doesn't disappoint. Their chemistry is undeniable, and their performances sell the emotion of the script with ease.
While Driver and Johansson take up most of the space in the room, there's still enough oxygen for some fun and quirky supporting turns, be it Wallace Shawn's unfathomably horny thespian or Merritt Wever and Julie Hagerty as Nicole's sister and mother, respectively. But it's Dern, decked out in slinky, aggressive power dresses and extreme heels, who effortlessly steals the movie away whenever she enters a scene. She has great fun sparring with Liotta and Alan Alda (as a grandfatherly and mostly inept lawyer who may not be up for the job. "Marriage Story" is all about its performances, and those performances are flawless in every sense of the term.
"Marriage Story" manages to come out on the other side with a sense of calm and understanding, making an extraordinarily difficult viewing experience worth the pain to see how people can keep living even when life is determined to beat all the spirit out of you. The result is a near-perfect piece of transcendent art and one of the true standouts of 2019. 9.5/10