The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
SCENES FROM 5 MARRIAGES
Complex partnerships serve as powerful narrative fuel in these Oscar contenders, which feature actors going head-to-head — with some characters’ relationships meeting tragic ends
Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
In Amazon’s backstage drama, set during a tense week of production onI Love Lucy, Kidman’s Lucille Ball and Bardem’s Desi Arnaz lob hard-edged zingers as frequently as compliments. Writerdirector Aaron Sorkin’s examination of one of America’s most beloved couples, onscreen and off, is a witty look at a partnership that was both romantic and professional.
Adam Driver and Lady Gaga, House of Gucci
The tumultuous marriage between Mauricio Gucci (Driver) and Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga) is the center of this stylish and campy crime drama from director Ridley Scott that follows the pair’s love affair and eventual breakup, which resulted in Reggiani ordering Gucci’s murder.
Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Warner Bros.’ drama, which tracks the early years of Venus and Serena Williams’ athletic training as planned by their father, Richard (Smith), is as much about the Williams family as it is the sisters’ tennis careers. Smith and his co-star Ellis, who plays Williams’ wife, Oracene Price, are perfectly matched as the couple who balanced parenting and training duties. The film highlights Price’s influence on her daughters’ talents despite often being overshadowed in the press by her outspoken husband.
Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst,
The Power of the Dog The real-life couple unite onscreen for Jane Campion’s Western drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank, a mean-spirited rancher in 1925 Wyoming and brother to Plemons’ George. Dunst plays Rose, George’s new wife and the target of Phil’s contempt, and whose fragility goes deeper than her husband is aware.
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, The Tragedy of Macbeth
The characters at the dark heart of Shakespeare’s supernatural tragedy are two of the most compelling in the history of drama. Separately, Lord and Lady Macbeth are ambitous nobles who seek power; together, they are a dangerous duo who lie, cheat and murder their way to the top.