Strong performances in this overall good movie

Rating: 6/10 (17 February 2020)

The title "Marriage Story" is a bit misleading in my opinion for this 135-minute movie from 2019, because there is a lot more focus on divorce here. But first things first: The writer and director is Noah Baumbach and he has really made many films in the past that weren't seen by too many, but received critical acclaim. So it was certainly only a matter of time until he also gets his big breakthrough in Hollywood and if you have the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver on board (yep he is also one of the biggest stars now, not only because of Star Wars), then it is bound to happen unless you really mess up the script. But Baumbach is too reliable for this. He has worked with Greta Gerwig, his significant other, a lot in the past, so it is kinda interesting that his female lead here (Johansson) got no less than two Academy Award nominations this year, one for this film and the other for Gerwig's newest movie. For the latter, her chances were probably better to win, but in the end she lost both, but really two nominations in one year are really a big achievement and I am sure she is happy with that. I know I am because she should have been nominated a long time ago and it seems perhaps that maybe the Academy wanted to make up for omitting her on a regular basis. Adam Driver scored his second Oscar nomination and this is also deserving. He played his part very well and was the reason why sometimes the movie reminded me a bit of Kramer vs. Kramer. You could say it is the 2000s take on a similar subject. Driver did not win the Oscar either, but this was basically only because Phoenix was steamrolling his competition. AD was still considered the only one who could potentially cause an upset for Best Lead Actor. There are many other nominations here, such as Best Motion Picture, but the only win went to Laura Dern for playing a divorce lawyer. Oh well, I cannot say she won me over with her performance here. I mean she was alright, but honestly I feel that the nomination is already too much. This win is as underwhelming as the winner for Supporting Actress last year. Also Dern clearly profited from the fact that she was the only divorce lawyer to Johansson's character (funnily Johansson was maybe the only threat to Dern with her portrayal in Jojo Rabbit), while Driver's character had two and these were played by Alan Alda and Ray Liotta. Two pretty different lawyers. Especially Alda would have been nice to get in.
Okay, I already said that I really liked the two lead performances here. They did not only have nice chemistry, but also the ways they brought these characters to life were really entertaining and insightful to watch. The film starts with something positive really that could also be taken from a happy marriage. We hear the two tell us what they appreciate most in their partner. Sadly, reality bites immediately when we find out they are telling this to somebody who is gonna support them with their divorce, but is still not the negative end because Johansson's character's reaction there takes things to a new low. I mean the atmosphere, not quality-wise obviously. And still, these notes about each other play a big role because they are referenced at the very end again in a really touching manner as Driver's character reads to his son what his ex wrote about him and I can see why these final words bring tears to his eyes. This was maybe the only moment when I was tempted to give this film 4 stars out of 5, but I really must admit that I did not like this one here as much as Frances Ha for example and that one received a 4/5 rating from me. Also telling that Baumbach did not cast Gerwig here, for she is really busy focusing on directing now and making her own movies. Okay, but back to this one here. Unfortunately, there were also moments I did not like too much. I thought the singing part with Driver's character added almost nothing for me very close to the end. Or when Dern's character makes a pretty bizarre speech that even involves Jesus. Please don't tell me this was supposed to encourage females and their emancipation. And a third example, although it was not as weak as the previous two for me, would be the big fight. Now this is definitely among the most memorable parts this film has to offer and I liked most of it, but when it really escalates I am not sure I was so fond of it all, perhaps only because I quite like the characters, but probably it was just too much for me and I could think of a couple ways how it could have been written better, maybe more subtle. But the weak (some of it subjective) here is not half as frequent as the strong. The final sequence that also include the notes I mentioned earlier is really good and we see how Johansson's character has moved on (and Driver's partially as well) and they found a solution that works for them as well as their son. But I also noted that Johansson's character's mother in this scene did not have a strong connection with Driver's character anymore, but instead she was joking around with her daughter's new boyfriend, which also felt a bit sad because it shows how time changes everything and the two were so close before that. Okay, I could have done without the reference that the female protagonist is now a successful filmmaker herself, but it's okay. Another thing I did not like too much was that actually Johansson's character went to all those different lawyers to also make sure her husband can't get one of them and that I found a bit despicable honestly and I did not like it because it's okay if the lawyers go up against each other, but this seemed like a really malicious move by her.
Like I already said, it is true the two are still married in the movie, but it really feels way more about their (upcoming) divorce. Real harmony is only there at the beginning with this voice-over sequence that tells us a lot about these characters and it was cute how they were pretty different with regard to so many things, but they both hate losing at Monopoly. There is another little fun reference later on about how their son still sucks at it. They seem to be so competitive there. And parents, please play with your children. Really play, I mean. So the entire film is basically about the conflicts between the two as they are heading towards new chapters in their lives. There is this escalation scene and we will never know if Driver's character is correct in telling her that she just searches for something to be unhappy with and that she will never be happy with a guy. We don't know how her new relationship is going to unfold. But even if they initially intended to manage the break-up and divorce in good spirit, it is not working out. Many dark things come to light. Be it the pills (I wondered they weren't mentioned later on by Liotta's character), the alcohol (how she is stumbling down the stairs) or the hacking and on the other side be it the seatbelt, the amount of time he spends with his son, be it his cheating or how she talks about that he never really saw her as an individual human being, but just as a part of himself. This reference is actually even more present on other occasions than in the courtroom. The boy you can also see on the photo, but while it is always a lot about him, also when we don't see him, especially then actually, there is major focus on the two parents instead and the son does not get too much screen time. The exception is the lengthy sequence when the (rather shy) female assessor comes to his home and basically all goes wrong there that could go wrong, most of all obviously how he cuts himself accidentally and falls to the ground when she is gone. We don't find out what happened exactly afterwards. He lost a lot of blood apparently. Maybe the boy called an ambulance or maybe he managed to get up himself and take care of the wound. This long sequence, as entertaining as it was, surprised me a little bit though because Driver's character seemed to be the one who is better structured from the couple, so I definitely did not expect it to turn out like this. Instead I thought that he could easily deal with the situation and really make it work and impress her. But it became obvious that the little chance he had was gone completely now and that he would see his son less frequently in the future. Much less. Still there are some slightly happy references towards the end of the film: For example, Johansson's character still does not want to hurt her ex and she does not want 55% instead of 50%. She does not want to humiliate the one she loved. Maybe still loves, just differently. And the second shot at happiness is that Driver's character now lives really close and can take care of his son more frequently and it won't be complicated anymore because he lives so far away. Overall, with the exception of those parts I already mentioned that I did not like from a subjective perspective, I think this was a really well-written film and the screenplay comes in second after the two lead performances in terms of what I consider the best aspects of this movie. It is definitely worth seeing, especially for couples I believe. Probably not for couples who are about to break up, but instead for those who still love each other dearly and won't let things go as far as they do here when it escalates in terms of one character screaming how he wishes the other was dead and the other comparing her man to his violent father before that. Hurtful. Next when they compare each other to all the family members, it felt so bizarre really. I'd like to close on a high note and mention something I fancied, which would be just a minor moment at the end and again when we have Driver's character read what his ex-wife thought about him, there is a brief reference about his family background and he omits a sentence there because he does not want his son confronted with this kind of malice. Here you have great attention to detail, something Baumbach always brings to the table.