Never having been a child of divorce or even a child or marriage, I went into this film expecting to experience something new. Whether that experience is healthy or toxic, I was ready to have my heart built up and promptly ripped out. I now know for an absolute fact that divorce is never something I would want to go through and while this movie reinforces its negative effects, it also makes the initial concept of marriage that much scarier. Noah Baumbach's absolutely phenomenal Marriage Story is a deeply personal film in which his experience with love and separation can be seen bursting out of every scene. What makes this film so extraordinary, however, is the incredibly painful touch of reality solidified by the score and the undeniably greatest performance of the year from Adam Driver. His intense passion paired with Baumbach's legendary writing and direction makes Marriage Story the most hard-hitting film about the loss of love that I have ever seen.
Charlie (Adam Driver), a director emotionally tied to New York and his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), an actress whose fame was partly bred by him, realize that they might not be the most compatible, sharing different goals and desires for their personal lives. When they decide to split up, they must work through the pain of change and coping with their newfound relationship, especially for the sake of their young son Henry (Azhy Robertson) and maintaining the loving family dynamic that they once had. Baumbach is an absolute master of making compelling narratives out of stories and experiences from his own life. While I feel many writers and directors have a tendency to exaggerate their own ego or inflate themselves for their audience, Baumbach is such a humble and honest filmmaker. Each one of his films is so personal to him but they all happen to stand out on their own as well, imbuing with individual style in their storytelling. Marriage Story is no different, with the exception that it's a *bit* more emotionally exhausting than his other films. I originally thought that this film would be an arc of Charlie and Nicole falling in love, marrying, having Henry, and eventually divorcing, but this film avoids that clichéd structure and dives directly into its loveless affliction. Starting this film off with their marriage counseling was such an incredibly clever way of framing this narrative, as not many films entirely focus on the harsh process of divorce. The sincere way that Baumbach writes this film is what really brought out its authenticity. Even through fictionalized characters, it is obvious to see the love Baumbach has for his ex-wife and their family.
This love also transfers over to this film and his way of not making his audience pick sides was incredible as well. Some divorcees might side more with Charlie or more with Nicole, but the best aspect of Baumbach's writing is how he spends so much careful time telling both of their sides, creating such a warm feeling of respect. It is very clear how important it is for him to tell this story and he could not have done it in a better way. Not every divorce ends up being a tragedy with the two sides fighting and bickering for the rest of their lives. Hatred for someone else in a previous marriage is still plausible but seems to be a theme that Hollywood films and even some indie films gloss over and do not pay much attention to, unfortunately. While this movie is the story of Charlie and Nicole's divorce, it's mostly the story of how they work out their love in order to keep their family together. This was such a sweet and inspiring way to tell this story and while it does have its fair share of raw emotion, court scenes, and legal issues for these characters to get through, the heart of this film is with the telling of these two's relationship and how it developed. The way that Baumbach wrote these two characters' relationship also makes for some of the funniest and pure interactions between them. Every marriage, in sickness and in health, has its inside jokes and humorous qualities that will never die, despite the possibility of the love fading away.
The small, minute details of Charlie and Nicole are what makes them so relatable. Outlined in their personal essays at the beginning of the film, they know each other so well that even through a divorce, they can always count on each other to pick up on their individualities and quirks. Driver and Johansson's chemistry throughout this film is wildly palpable and this is only driven by their spectacular performances. Johansson needs to do more indie roles because she was fantastic in this film, but the real standout is Adam Driver's Charlie. Driver has given the best performance of all of 2019 in the course of only two hours and the absolute range of his talent spreads across every heart-wrenching emotion seen in this story. I was physically moved by the powerful impact of his acting and I will be genuinely upset if he doesn't at least get recognition for this moving portrayal of a broken marriage. All of the supporting performances were incredible as well, including Laura Dern and Ray Liotta, Nicole and Charlie's respective divorce lawyers. The cinematography from Robbie Ryan was very clean and effective, but the legendary Randy Newman's score helped tie this entire story together in a heartbreaking bow. Every song was filled to its brim with light piano and mildly whimsical qualities that helped to ground this film with a twinge of lightheartedness. Despite some scenes being incredibly intense, Newman's music gave this story a realistic feeling that everything will eventually be okay.
Noah Baumbach continues to impress me with his fantastic directorial style and tender filmmaking abilities. Marriage Story is one of this year's absolute best films, giving me a story I never thought that I could relate to or enjoy so much. I feel like I've been blessed recently with the opportunities to see such astounding films and this movie has definitely taken the lead for what I want to see win some serious awards. With this film and Scorsese's The Irishman, Netflix is going to be sitting pretty come February.
My Rating: ★★★★★
No comments:
Post a Comment