Another great divide
A modern divorce story is in turns compassionate, heartbreaking and hilarious.
Writer-director Noah Baumbach shot to prominence in 2005 with his Oscar-nominated script for The Squid and the Whale. The semi-autobiographical story tickled critics and audiences with its perceptive take on middle-class angst, as a Brooklyn teenager suffered through the divorce of his parents, played by Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels.
In subsequent films Greenberg, Margot at the Wedding and Frances Ha, Baumbach directed Ben Stiller, Nicole Kidman and Greta Gerwig respectively in bittersweet dramedies about outsiders who are lugging baggage stuffed with broken dreams – a common theme for the indie film-maker.
Marriage Story is also a return to divorce for Baumbach, who was married to Jennifer Jason Leigh for five years. Despite the seemingly sad subject matter, it’s a wonderful, uplifting and thought-provoking film anchored by stunning performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver.
They play Nicole and Charlie Barber, an actor-director couple who live in New York with their doe-eyed young son, Henry. As the film opens, their perfect relationship is made evident by a joint voiceover in which each lists the positive traits of the other. They are attractive, talented and bohemian in their parenting style. But their career paths are diverging. Charlie’s job as director of a flourishing theatre company is taking off just as Nicole is offered a TV pilot in Los Angeles.
Before they know it, the hitherto best friends are engaging pugilistic lawyers and shuffling their cards for another round of the blame game. Home truths are hurled, and it is heartbreaking to watch.
Baumbach’s ability to meld a credibly dramatic script with light comedic moments is key. Johansson and Driver are pitch-perfect as they deliver poignantly naturalistic monologues. They’re nicely supported in subtly hilarious turns by Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Nurse Jackie’s Merritt Wever, along with a frightening Ray Liotta as a street-fighter attorney.
It’s the sort of tonal shift Taika Waititi likes to adopt in his films, with mixed success. By comparison, Marriage Story has Johansson’s character tearfully recounting the life of her marriage before an impossibly glamorous Dern kicks off red stilettos and curls up on the sofa to soothe her devastated client with self-involved empathy and fancy tea. This very LA moment makes you smile, without undermining Nicole’s searing pain.
Some might feel that a film about the end of a marriage isn’t particularly entertaining, but for the performances alone, Marriage Story is an absolute treat – and one that might prompt you to reflect on your own relationship. More than this, it’s a tale of real people going through something statisticians suggest will affect up to half of all marriages. The fact that it’s handled with respect, even-handedness and compassion makes Marriage Story one of the best films of 2019. IN CINEMAS NOW ON NETFLIX FROM DECEMBER 7