Review by Maggie Frank
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach's new dramedy / tragicomedy / emotional rollercoaster is the first Netflix movie I’ve viewed in a theatre. It was the opening event of the St. Louis International Film Festival in early November, and as I left the theatre, I overheard someone say she hated it. "Why?" Her companions asked. "It was stupid and depressing," she said. This viewer can only halfway agree: I found Marriage Story to be an nuanced yet depressing film.
Baumbach, who wrote and directed, has stated that many of his friends were getting divorced around the same time he was (from Jennifer Jason Leigh) and that those experiences contributed to Marriage Story. The film opens with voiceover montages of letters the couple, the Barbers, have written about the positive aspects of one another: Charlie (Adam Driver) is strong, bold, decisive; Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) is extremely caring, fun, and delightfully absent minded. But she doesn't want to read her letter to Charlie as the marriage counselor asks. And so it begins.
Marriage Story is him vs her. East coast vs. west coast. Theatre world vs. film industry. It feels a little like a play. It's full of dialogue, monologues, and long takes. He and she each sing a song. It is so "Send in the Clowns" (fortunately, this is not one of the songs). Speaking of the comic relief: Baumbach mercifully sends in no fewer than five funny people to distract us from the sometimes bloody mess of divorce.
They're separated, but still cohabitating, with their young son in New York City, where Charlie directs plays. Nicole is leaving their theatre company to pursue a film and television career on the west coast, taking their son with her. They are on good enough terms -- she still solicits his feedback on a performance and he still gives it. They keep their negative emotions as buried as they can, neither knowing how to move on because neither wants to give up their conceived roles of good person.
In the following days, she opens up to her new L.A. attorney Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern, the film's head clown). Nicole wanted to move back to California for years, but Charlie never really heard her. Nora advises her to dispense of their amicable proceedings in order to ensure the best outcome: custody and money -- and start living her best life. When Charlie visits for a scheduled custody visit at her mother (Julie Hagerty, clown #2)'s house, Nicole has her sister (Merritt Weaver, clown #3) awkwardly serve him papers in what is one of the outstanding moments of the film.
Marriage Story is more of a divorce story, with fun facts about the marriage sprinkled throughout. She wanted to move but he never understood! He cheated when she stopped sleeping with him! Who is right? His plays got her taken more seriously as an actress. Her presence got him attention, at least in the early years. Now he is successful enough to receive a major grant. Who owes whom what?
Charlie, forced to lawyer shop, finds Nicole has already interviewed many, rendering him off-limits to them. He considers costly Jay (Ray Liotta, clown #4), and only finds Bert Spitz (Alan Alda, clown #5), a formerly formidable entertainment lawyer who graduated (i.e. retired) to family law, with the help of his for-now mother-in-law. Alda's Parkinson's Disease is apparent in this film. It took me a moment to get used to seeing the shaking of his hand. I'm glad that the shaking wasn't masked.
Son Henry (Azhy Robertson) is the only thing they fight over, but, thankfully, this movie isn't about the kid. He isn't precocious, sweet, smart, interesting, or funny. Henry clings to his mother but aloofly resents his father like a unwanted babysitter. He is a typical middle grade child in the middle of divorce proceedings: he is loved by the parents, and while he is the center of their lives, he is likely not at the forefront of their minds. They are working artists. Their different parenting styles show their different natures: Charlie seeks to elevate, help, and otherwise guide Henry. Nicole prefers to nurture and play with him. An eight-year-old who can't read who is in the center of a divorce needs both types of parents. He nurtures the child's mind; she takes care of his spirit.
Charlie trusts those around him until he comes to the conclusion that he can rely not on his estranged wife to make the divorce smooth or his cheaper-for-a-reason attorney to get him custody, but that he must direct this part of his life like he directs plays. Charlie, in danger of not getting custody, realizes he must upgrade his representation, bringing one of the first attorneys he visited, Jay, to battle with Nora.
I found Charlie's character more interesting than and just as sympathetic as Nicole's. Due to this, and because the film takes place in California, the film felt like a long away game to me. At one point, Charlie finds himself holding himself together physically but must act like everything is fine because to need help or show weakness could damage his chances at custody. It's a very funny and somewhat horrifying scene.
In the end, they divorce and move on. She finds her voice and another man (with a similar-sounding name) in no time flat. He finds his place in a world in which he doesn’t get to call every shot and has to compromise. One of the letters from the opening scene, which has made the move from New York to California, comes back and almost too nicely frames the story. The former couple may realize, as the audience certainly does, that, had they made their current concessions during their marriage, they might have stayed married. That's life.
Divorce is exhausting. It's expensive. It's painful. It's brutal. And, like Marriage Story, it is engrossing to watch. You can see Marriage Story in limited release or on Netflix now.