Two riveting lead performances

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 2019)

It would seem natural to start talking about "Marriage Story" with something like "there is life beyond Kylo Ren and Natasha Romanoff", in tribute to the two leads progressing from blockbuster pop icons to Oscar calibre performers. But I am going to start with director-writer Noah Baumback first.
In 2005, I watched "The squid and the whale", also written and directed by Baumback, earning him Sundance awards for both these categories, although none of the more glamorous awards for which it was also nominated. I beg indulgence is excerpts from my IMDb user review of that movie.
"This is a very realistic, honest depiction of the drama of life. The fact that it is so good is due very much to its very close to being writer-director Noah Baumbach's auto-biography" I thus described "The squid and the whale". These comments applies equally to "Marriage story".
"The squid and the whale" is also about a failed marriage, as we the audience we see "the characters' struggles throughout the movie, against themselves and against each other, to find a balance in a life that will go on. At various times, you learn to like or dislike these characters, but never without a sense of sympathy for their helplessness. In the end, you have a deeper understanding that life sometimes does take such turns, and you recognize it in people around you, some of whom you know quite well." So much for "The squid and the whale", which for most part is from the POV of the young children. "Marriage story" goes directly and unflinchingly into the couples' inner world.
While many also compare "Marriage story" to "Kramer vs Kramer", there are significant difference. While the key plotline for both is custodianship battle, "Kramer" is also very much a father-and-son bonding story, maybe even more so. In "marriage story", on the other hand, the son is neutral and seems equally agreeable to living with the father or mother. In Kramer, the Oscar wins were Best Lead Actor for Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Merly Streep. For "Marriage story" is will be most surprising if Adam Driver (playing Charles) and Scarlette Johansson (playing Nicole) are not both nominated for their respective lead roles.
I won't go into the details of how what started as a perfect marriage ends up failing. The general verdict of critics seems that neither is entirely at fault. It's just one of those things. So, let's leave it at that.
What I final most moving in this movie is the light touches (and Baumback is superb with those) that make your heart bleed in hoping that they would get back together after all: such as in the lunch break in the meeting at the legal office Charles stares at the menu, completely at a loss and Nicole takes it off his hand and orders for him; such as at a brief evening visit Nicole observes Charles's "shaggy" appearance and ends upon cutting his hair for him (something she has always done for the family); such as at the closing scene (after the custodian dispute has been resolved reasonably amicably), Nicole notices that Charles's shoelace is loose, calls him to stop and ties it up for him (he is holding their son, going away to spend a day with him). There are many such touches, as I call them, but the most heart-breaking thing is to see the two of them, in a throng of people, exchanging glances and gazes as if they are the only two persons in the world.
To-date, "Marriage story" has collected 35 awards and earned close to 100 nominations. As I said, it is almost a certainty that both Driver and Johansson will be nominated for best lead role in Oscar. If they both win it will be well-deserved, not only for their heart-felt, nuanced performances throughout but also for an emotionally explosive scene in the middle that leaves the audiences breathless and sobbing at the same time. There is a solid support cast, of which the three lawyers are most noteworthy. Honoured with a Golden Globe support nomination is Laura Dern playing Nicole's super-aggressive lawyer Nora. Hall-of-fame class veteran Alan Alda plays Charles's first lawyer Bert, semi-retired and eventually fired for being too soft. Picking thing up from him is Jay, a lawyer worth Nora's steel, played by veteran screen tough guy Ray Liotta.