"Marriage Story" What More Could I Ask For?

 

    Oftentimes, I find a complaint of mine with movies is that not enough happened, the events are too far and few and I feel as if more could have easily been packed into a story that didn't move along well enough. Oddly enough, Marriage Story was not one of those movies. I'm not saying I came into Marriage Story expecting to dislike it, I had actually seen the clip of them arguing when the movie first came out, and had put it on the backburner until now, when my friend Erock recommended it to me. It's just, I expected to like the film, but I came out liking it for different reasons than I thought I would. 

    Now I'm no movie expert or snob, so usually when I say an actor/actress performed well in a movie I mean that nothing ever felt goofy to me, there was no moment where my suspension of disbelief was broken, where the veil I put on my eyes was violently ripped off by poor acting. But by God the acting in this movie is ridiculously good, my hatred of lawyers is absolutely off the charts after this movie. As soon as Laura Dern's character, Nora, enters the movie, you can already feel how clawing she is, while to viewers she may come off as so obviously insincere, looking back I can see why Nicole trusted her, she felt like she had never been heard before, and its easy to get sucked up by the veneer of her false kindness when you haven't been in Hollywood for a while.

    However, what really takes the cake is the acting between Adam Driver and Scarlet Johansson, because they both really do complete the story. In my eyes without either of them putting on an absolutely astounding performance this movie simply would have crumbled after the first 15 minutes. Their acting is the rock, the foundation that the rest of the film builds upon and even from the first minute, they are the glue that makes every part look seamless. I know that some people complain that movie snobs only like scenes where people are angry as good acting performances, but I think anger is one of those emotions that's so hard to get right, so hard to look authentic without anyone questioning it for even a second, that this performance should still be commended for.

    Speaking of emotion, an underrated aspect of this film that I believe assisted in creating this world of believability was the music. Whoever was the sound director in this film deserves a raise, because while it's not your usual Han Zimmer Orchestral masterpieces, the music shows up in such opportune moments that really tie all of the scenes together. It's used so sparingly but effectively and when used in tandem with the superb acting it really makes me feel like this film might be perfect.

    Now, of course the big question is who did you side with in this film, and of course I'm a little biased because of the fact that I am a male and I did immediately sympathize with Charlie. I mean when you pose Nicole as this girl coming from money and Charlie as a self made Thespian how could you make me not choose Charlie? I mean to be fair I do think that they really downplayed the cheating aspect of the film, choosing to focus on the two people there, but I do think if it was more prominent I would definitely feel more neutral.

    Personally, Nicole should have communicated how trapped she felt, but Charlie was also too absorbed i his work to notice or even care to ask what was happening. She hitched herself onto him and forgot that she could have unclasped herself at any moment. In her defense though, we don't really get to see the slow deterioration of their marriage that supposedly happens, I just see the aftermath and it does make it feel like Charlie is getting shafted in the end. I mean I know to dumb fucks the scene were Nora talks about the patriarchy might seem like "woke pandering" but I think it rings true. Nicole was just expected to be happy, that Charlies success was automatically her success and she should have never aspired for more, but that's just unfair to her.

    I think the one sticking point with me that I can't get over is that Nicole was the one who brought in the lawyers, she's the one who refused to communicate, she was finally wresting back some of the control she had lost but in the process she was just tipping it in her favour instead of settling the table back to the even playing field. I think that the lawyers in this film were so clawing, so invasive, they sort of fed into your worst impulses. To me they were like someone picking at a scab, they're trying to open wounds that they can see, they just want you to bleed so it can be worse and you can let them do your job. It's as if a small grievance is just a drop on your head but soon you let them pour the whole jug and you become coated in their cruel, vicious bile that makes you as toxic as possible to the other person, ensuring the divorce goes through to the end.

Final Score: 95/100

    I'm really finding it hard to ask for what else I wanted. When it comes to this movie it's not about what's done wrong, it's about what extra garnishes could have made it even better. This movie is as if you're holding onto the hand of someone who's going to fall off a cliff, aka the marriage, and so you hold tighter in desperation knowing that it could have worked. Just one or two tweaks and it would have been alright, but it slips out of your hand as if it becomes slipper to keep the more pressure you apply, until all grip is lost and you just have to let go. I do think that they should have just divorced because cheating should not be tolerated, but I do think that the lawyers just made this divorce even worse than it already was. I'd side with Charlie but that's because I see bits of myself in Charlie, I don't know how it feels to be a Nicole, as a man I instinctively can see myself in Charlie's shoes and see how he so desperately wants the recognition. Ultimately, I see no reason why anyone can't watch this film and learn something from it, because it definitely is one for the books.