When you love passionately in love with someone and decide to spend the rest of your life together as husband and wife, does that love ever die, even in the face of divorce? Can you love someone as much as you grow to hate them? “Marriage Story” is a character study of a couple in the middle of a divorce and how the separation effects each of them and their child. Divorce is a painful and heartbreaking experience that is far to common these days so this movie is sadly very relatable to a large chunk of audiences.
The film tells the story of a young married couple named Charlie and Nicole currently going through a divorce. The couple have a child and decide to keep things simple and negotiate anything between themselves. Things grow complicated when Nicole hires a divorce attorney on the recommendation of a friend and things spiral out of control. Rival lawyers, court dates, skyrocketing costs, and broken dreams are only but a few of the hardships face in order to start new lives apart. Unfortunately their child is caught in the middle in a nasty custody battle when all the couple really wanted was for child not to be caught in the middle of their divorce.
This film isn’t a movie I would normally be much interested in and if this wasn’t on Netflix, I wouldn’t have went out special to see it. Films such as “Kramer vs Kramer” are well done and beautifully acted but they don’t tend to emotionally connect with me. Much to my surprise, “Marriage Story” actually managed to connect with me and left me caring about the couple.
A lot of the strength of this film comes down to the performances of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson and how vulnerable they make their characters feel. This isn’t about a couple trying to destroy the other person (though on the surface it might appear that way), this is about a couple terrified to have to start all over again and admit their own failings. Added to Driver and Johansson’s powerful performances, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta all deliver strong performances as the couple’s lawyers.
What makes this film standout is that it plays all the characters as real and avoids going over the top. Each character is deeply flawed but also lovable. You could understand what the couple saw in each other and loved, and also what tore them apart. The film also sends an important message about the importance of communication in a successful relationship and marriage. Once someone builds walls up, they can’t always be torn down.
I also preferred that the film decided to focus more on the couple’s love for their child and how that can turn toxic over the couple’s hatred over each other. The divorce gets ugly but only to prove their love for their child.
“Marriage Story” isn’t a movie I would normally enjoy which is perhaps the best testimony to how powerful it is. With some of the strongest performances of the year, Netflix has another win this awards season.
Grade: B+
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