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CAST
ADAM DRIVER
SCARLETT JOHANSSON
ALAN ALDA
LAURA DERN
JULIE HAGERTY
RAY LIOTTA
AZHY ROBERTSON
WALLACE SHAWN
MERRITT WEVER
WRITTEN BY
NOAH BAUMBACH
PRODUCED BY
NOAH BAUMBACH
DAVID HEYMAN
DIRECTED BY
NOAH BAUMBACH
GENRE
DRAMA
RATED
AUS:M
UK:15
USA:R
RUNNING TIME
137 MIN
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A contemplative and heartbreaking depiction of marriage sacrificed at the altar of ego, Marriage Story is told with emotionally wrenching realism by its performers and writer/director Noah Baumbach.
As of the time of writing, the divorce rate in the US stands at a whopping 50%. Clearly, something has gone wrong in the land of the free, where the idea of “until death do us part” just does not resonate.
In Marriage Story, the latest film from indie darling Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale), we witness the severing of a modern marriage, comprised of Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson). Both work in the entertainment industry, with Charlie a renowned theatre director, and Nicole his long-time leading lady. When Nicole wants to return to Los Angeles and reignite her once promising Hollywood career, it causes friction in her relationship with Charlie, that quickly turns into a crack, and then full blown demolition of a 10 year marriage, that bore the one son Henry (Azhy Robertson.)
Marriage Story is supposedly based on Baumbach’s own divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. It is an example of how couples that prioritise their careers over their relationship, especially in an entertainment industry that holds location and ego as high priorities, cannot survive the trials and tribulations of a lifetime vow to commitment. In Baumbach’s alter ego Charlie, sacrifice is especially hard, especially when he has established himself in New York City. “We are a New York family” he repeatedly says.
Clearly, Nicole has other ideas. Taking on a role in a new TV series, she swiftly executes a plan for relocation and custody of Henry, as planned by ruthless divorce attorney (Laura Dern.) Charlie is blindsided, and despite his foibles (and there are many) he immediately gains our sympathy, as he is fed to a system designed to treat the male in the relationship with contempt, with Dern’s lawyer salivating this sacrificial feast. Dern plays the role with ferocious precision, and is sure to receive an Oscar nomination (if not a win) for her work.
Many accolades will also no doubt be given to Driver and Johansson, who dig deep into their respective emotional reservoirs in their portrayal of a couple enduring an incredibly painful process. Johansson (who is having a stellar 2019) brings both a spunk and a fragility to a character reclaiming her identity and venturing into a new life based on her terms.
The standout performance though belongs to Driver, whose Charlie is blindsided not only by the end of his marriage, but the very prominent role had had in its destruction. Fighting against a California court system and the shrewd vultures that work within the divorce industry (and business is good), Charlie faces a battle he cannot win, no matter how honourable or dirty his approach. Nicole has the homecourt advantage and rigged the game. She too garners our sympathies, but there is a calculated shrewdness to her that’s hard to shake off. Charlie is the adulterer, but Nicole just might be the more despicable of the two.
Baumbach lays it all on the line here: the failures, the frailties, the ego, the heartbreak. To title the film Marriage Story may seem silly to some, but for the American way of life where the individual pursuit of happiness is of paramount importance, divorce has now proven to be an inevitability to a once sacred tradition, and that is the biggest tragedy of all.
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