Film Review: Marriage Story

09:00 November 26, 2019
By: Fritz Esker

Noah Baumbach's bittersweet Marriage Story follows a New York theater director (Adam Driver) and his actress wife (Scarlet Johansson) through their divorce. Driver wants to stay with his theater company in New York, but Johansson wants to move back to her native Los Angeles for a TV opportunity. They have a son (Azhy Robertson) and both want custody. So, the couple must try to battle through their personal resentments, pain, and hostilities without hurting their son.


Baumbach (Frances Ha, While We're Young) opens the movie with a clever gambit: essentially 10 minutes of showing us all of Driver and Johansson's good qualities. So when the ugliness starts (and things do get ugly), it stings because the audience knows these aren't truly bad or evil people tearing each other to shreds.

The pacing lags sometimes, and you do feel the film's 136-minute running time. But overall, it works. Baumbach's script gives the actors plenty of opportunities to shine, and they take full advantage of them. There's a decent chance of Oscar nominations for Driver and Johansson. However, they're not the only performers who turn in excellent work here. Laura Dern continues her recent renaissance as Johansson's shrewd lawyer. Alan Alda reminds everyone why he's an acting treasure with his turn as Driver's kindly-but-forthright attorney.

Marriage Story is not always easy to watch, but it's a film of depth and humanity.

β˜…β˜…β˜… stars (out of four)

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