divorce story

Rating: 8/10 (12 December 2019)

Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) are married with a young son. They're working on their divorce. She's an L.A. girl with a popular teen movie when she followed him to NYC. He becomes a well regarded theater director and she's his leading lady. She wants to return to L.A. to start a new TV show while he's bringing his show to Broadway. She hires divorce lawyer Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern).
There have been many divorce movies over the years. This is one of the better ones. It has a great opening which probably gaslighted me to this marriage. I kept hoping for reconciliation or at least, an easy peace. This gets to some dark places and it climaxes to a powerful scene in the motel room. The movie needs to wrap up a little quicker after that climatic fight. I would like some parts to go a different way but at the end of the day, this is Noah Baumbach's story. He probably drew some inspiration from his real life and who am I to judge. There are good laughs and there are devastating moments. It is a highlight of an interesting career.