If you want a good movie about separation, watch Blue Valentine

Rating: 3/10 (7 December 2019)

I really had high hopes for this movie, since it had promising star power and an intriguing storyline. But it's apparent that most of this budget went into casting. Ten minutes deep, I was already cringing. The whole movie felt more like a stage production with overlong scenes, too much talking (spoon-feeding), and dramatic (though granted, not terribly delivered) monologues. It promises you a serious insight into a divorce between two good, well-meaning people, but its attempts at comedy fell flat and were hard to watch. Particularly with that over-acting, trying-too-hard performance by Merrit Wever, who came off as more of a cartoonish stage actress and whose character was more of a caricature.
There were also lines that were just bad and poorly delivered. Like one toward the start of the film where the babysitter says to them upon their return home "God, you guys are so attractive." What? Nobody talks like that in that context. Little things like that make one wonder if the writer/director even bothered to get any second opinions.
Driver and Johansenn did most of the heavy-lifting acting-wise, which gives us small windows of hope, but even so, their on-screen chemistry seemed forged and unnatural.
Overall, this movie came off as more of a vanity project than anything else. Which can happen when you get a movie about movie people. The bones of a great movie are there,but a lot of fat needs to be cut. The script could be so much better with the help of a big fat red marker.