The more I do this, the more apparent it becomes that awards shows don’t exactly put filmmaking or artistry first. However, the awards committees do get things right on occasion so when Netflix took home a staggering 17 Golden Globe nominations in early December it definitely put the whole entertainment industry on notice. While most of the attention leaned towards Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Netflix has had a year filled with solid feature film releases to accompany their ever-increasing television offerings. Marriage Story is one of those films stepping out of the shadows thanks to a brutally honest script and top-notch performances from a great cast.
The screenplay by Writer/Director Noah Baumbach is amazing and quite often gut-wrenching but it’s anchored in authenticity. I don’t want to make assumptions but it seems like this comes from a very personal place because the character design is incredibly well-written and so very specific. There are times where both characters are completely off-putting and times where you genuinely feel for each of them. Beyond mere sympathy, there are moments where you can actually relate to both of them and understand them each as individuals because this isn’t a black & white situation where one character is the villain and the other is our hero. The fulcrum of the relationship at the center of the story is all about maintaining individuality throughout the course of a marriage (or any other long-term romantic relationship). However, it’s not just about the ebbs and flows of staying yourself but understanding that your partner is also a person who has wants and needs separate from yours. It’s a very intimate and emotional teardown of this particular relationship but it also shows the realities of getting married young and moving faster than you know how to handle. Despite delving into some very painful territory, the script has a smart sense of humor that brings some much-needed levity to the table when things get heavy. This is right at the top when it comes to the Best Original Screenplays this year and Baumbach deserves a great deal of credit for orchestrating the entire thing.
When I first saw trailers for this film, two things immediately came to mind. A) the title is awful and B) I don’t know that I can trust Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver to deliver the necessary performances to tell this kind of story in the way it needs to be told. I was wrong on the second point.
Johansson gave a really strong performance in doses but she also decided to play the character with a very bizarre body language. In the scenes where they can play off one another, she’s quite good but when she is explaining things to a third party, there’s bizarre nervous energy that manifested in a constant head bobbing. It’s as if she’s internally saying yes to affirm the words coming out of her mouth. That, I can understand but it still looked out of place and was fairly noticeable throughout the course of the film. It’s refreshing to see her get away from some of the superhero material she’s been involved with for so long and a nice reminder that she can be a very compelling performer given the right circumstances.
I can’t imagine either of these roles was a joy to play but there was a lot to work with. Each character was painted as both villain and hero to some extent, either from their own perspective or through the eyes of their partner. Driver laid into some intense scenes with ferocious passion and meandered through others, completely aloof. He displayed a vast range of emotions with this character that takes the audience on an exhausting ride and you can feel the gravity of these two individuals in a way that’s fairly uncommon in modern cinema. The 36-year-old Oscar nominee continued his strong year and made a play for my Performer of the Year award with this performance. While he’s been forever immortalized as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars universe, Driver has had a steady stream of diverse and eclectic roles to go alongside his performances in the new space opera trilogy.
Laura Dern deserves all the attention she’s getting for her performance and the shiny Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress that goes along with it. She’s a great actress and this seamless transition from the character she’s been playing on Big Little Lies for the past couple of years. She’s a take-no-shit divorce attorney who, on behalf of her client, makes sure to assert her dominance over everyone she comes into contact with. Dern shines in this type of environment and Douglas Aibel and the marvelous Francine Maisler stacked up an excellent supporting cast to do battle with.
Ray Liotta and Alan Alda step in as two very different sides to the same coin, divorce attorneys opposite Dern. Liotta plays the high priced Xs and Os attorney who always assumes the worst of others and therefore presents the worst of himself. This was his first movie in three years but it was a great character for him to step back into. Alda plays the attorney most people think doesn’t exist. He’s straightforward yet softspoken, honest and fair. He runs into Driver’s character, Charlie, when hope is running out and spells things out for the first time. Functionally, he steps in as a father figure to give guidance and assistance. Given the context of the story, it’s an important role in terms of shaping the narrative for the audience.
This certainly wasn’t the type of movie I expected to like but it’s so well executed. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan made some very artful shot selections to help punctuate a very dramatic film and craft a visual theme to accompany the narrative. Thanks to six Golden Globe nominations, there’s a lot more attention being paid to this movie and fortunately, for those who didn’t really know about it, they won’t have to go far to check it out.
Recommendation: See it for the script and the performances turned in by the stellar cast. You can find it easily on Netflix and enjoy it from the comfort of your couch.