Good but takes a fair bit of patience

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2020)

Charlie and Nicole are separating. With a young son to think about they intend to do it all fairly and amicably with no animosity. But then the lawyers get involved.
I watched this expecting a much more gritty exposition on relationships than the cheap romantic dramas which seem to litter the cinematic landscape. My favourite romantic dramas tend to be ones where things don't work out (e.g. 500 Days of Summer, In The Mood For Love, the marriage-breakdown story in Love Actually) as they make for much more original and interesting stories than your usual trite happily-ever-after stuff.
Initially Marriage Story is quite disappointing though. It moves at a snail's pace and nothing really happens until about 40 minutes in. Viewer patience is rewarded though as things do get much better eventually. Once the parasitic lawyers get involved the plot becomes much more interesting and the pace speeds up as the situation spirals out of control. It also demonstrates that divorce only ever benefits the lawyers.
These plot developments do also take the movie into unoriginal territory, as Kramer vs Kramer already covered the trauma, trials and tribulations of a divorce, and did it better, covering it more intensely and engagingly.
As the movie goes on it becomes more profound and engaging and the ending is very powerful and emotional. The performances of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson also help drive this quality, especially towards the end when their relationship is at its nadir. The confrontational scene between them near the end is superb.
A tighter first Act and this would have been a much more engaging and compelling drama.