A Marriage Story

Rating: 9/10 (14 December 2019)

The subject of divorce is not something new for film, it's been done countless times by many rom com type movies that often end up coming of as disingenuous and fake. Well that's not the case with Noah Baumbach latest Marriage story, A compassionate and in depth look at the family unit in the face of break up with some of the most fleshed out and fully realised characters I have seen all year.
The Best aspect to this movie would have to be the script. Both are main characters (Played brilliantly by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson) have so much character to them and feel like genuinely real people. We see both these characters for who they are, neither of these people are perfect and the movie doesn't shy away from that, rather than have a bias we are shown both sides of the story and even if you do end up siding with one of the characters at no point do you not understand and sympathise with the other. That's what makes Marriage story so special, because it never paints either of the characters as the bad guy, which in turn gives the film a much more genuine feel to it that you don't usually find in these types of movie. On A side note the movie is also extremely funny, The Serving scene specifically was just perfect.
The actors do such A phenomenal with the material here. Early in the film Scarlett Johansson has a long monologue that's given in one continuous shot, and I forgot that I was watching a movie. She felt so incredibly real and at no point did I see an actor giving a performance. Same goes for Adam driver, both actors are award worthy here. The Supporting cast is also great including the likes of Laura Dern and Ray Liotta playing the divorce lawyers.
With a run time of almost 2 hour and 30 minutes. Its Impressive just how quickly that runtime seems to go. That's mainly due to the fact that no stone is left unturned So to speak. Marriage story goes so in depth into the effect divorce can have on 2 people that any movie that came before (and potentially even after) ends up feeling as shallow as a puddle. This movie truly is something special and I can't think of a single person that won't enjoy this.