Marriage Story (Review)
Marriage Story Reminds Us How Painful Heartbreak is.
It’s strangely appropriate that a movie about divorce is titled, Marriage Story. Like so many of you, I’m a child of divorce and while I know it’s been devastating for a lot of people, I managed to get through it relatively unscathed. That doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking watching this relationship implode. Like so many of us, I can relate to the suffering and anger that comes with a painful breakup. There is a whirlwind of emotions that comes with losing someone you once loved (or maybe even still do) and Marriage Story manages to capture that chaos perfectly. It’s an incredible film, but one that is absolutely brutal.
Adam Driver and Scarlett Johanssen are Charlie and Nicole, a married couple going through a divorce. While they initially try to keep things as amicable as possible, things devolve quickly between them once they get the lawyers involved (Laura Dern, Ray Liotta, and Alan Alda). Still, they try to keep things together the best they can for the sake of their son (Azhy Robertson). Their love for him becomes one of the most contentious parts of their divorce as they fight to keep him in their lives. Their divorce becomes a down and dirty fight as their pain turns to anger and that anger turns to hate (no dark side though). Through their pettiness, mistakes, and hurtful words neither one is actually made out to be the villain. They’re just two people that love each other but simply can’t keep living together anymore.
Writer/ director Noah Baumbach has a thing for making uncomfortable movies. He cut his teeth on divorce movies with the cringe-inducing (I mean that in the best possible way) The Squid and the Whale and has told a ton of awkward tales ever since. He brings the experience he’s gained to bear with Marriage Story. The film is filled with emotionally charged scenes as it takes a look at not just how the divorce affects the relationship between Charles and Nicole but also alters the relationships with everyone around them. Some characters find themselves caught in the middle and inevitably having to choose sides. Others are quick to pass judgment, assuming and insisting the worst about the others. Outside forces throw gasoline on the fire, and the audience can only continue to watch helplessly. Then again, helplessness seems to be one of the biggest themes in Marriage Story. Nicole initiates he divorce because she feels trapped and helpless in the marriage; Charlie is blindsided and feels helpless as he tries to avoid getting steamrolled. The audience is helpless with the knowledge that they don’t hate each other and even still admire one another. The pain they’re feeling keeps being redirected into venomous words and backstabbing.
A film like Marriage Story only works with two incredible leads. Driver has appeared in a number of underrated dramas over the years and has proven that he is a man of considerable talent. He demonstrates this once more as Charlie. Johanssen, on the other hand, has more of a reputation as a bankable name for big-budget blockbuster films. As Nicole, she displays much more emotional depth than I’ve come to expect from her. Together, they are electric. Both actors keep their energies and rhythms perfectly in sync, creating a sense of chemistry that speaks to the untold history of their relationship. Many of the scenes they share are also filled with tension as an ever-present struggle rages beneath the masks of composure they try to keep on. When those masks do slip, their fights are absolutely brutal as they hurl the most vicious insults they can muster at each other while fighting back tears. Their willingness to show emotional vulnerability is the most rewarding aspect of Marriage Story and what makes it so hard to watch.
Breakups suck. Don’t anyone give you that “tis better to have loved and lost” garbage, because it doesn’t make it any easier. That being said, the best break-up movies are always the hardest to watch, and Marriage Story is hard to get through. That’s not a bad thing, because the subject matter is far from rainbows and unicorns. They’re tragic because of the emotional connection they make with the audience. All of us have had our hearts ripped out at one time or another and Marriage Story knows just how to pull at those scars without being too cruel. That’s what makes it such a great movie in my opinion, because it knows exactly how to get an emotional reaction from the audience. Case in point: the film starts with both Charlie and Nicole making a list of all the things they love about the other. This makes their break up all the more painful as their kind words remain fresh in our minds but disappear from theirs.
Marriage Story is pretty much a walking trigger for anyone who has ever been brokenhearted. I’ve never been divorced, but watching it I could imagine everything they were going through as they mourned the death of their marriage. Bauchman doesn’t pull any punches, but never it feels like he’s trying to be intentionally hurtful as he tells this intimate story. All his work would have been meaningless without the palpable performances from his two leads. It’s a movie that I found to be brilliant and just right. It’s also a movie I hated sitting through because of how easily it managed to get past all my defenses. Like so many powerful films, Marriage Story is a movie I will not want to watch again, but that shouldn’t stop you from seeing it.
