Review of Marriage Story (2019) by Moviemitch96 — 01 Dec 2019

In this drama from director Noah Baumbach, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson play an embittered couple on the cuff of a spiteful divorce. Driver plays a New York-based theatre director traveling back and forth from there to LA where Johansson's character primarily lives as an actress that started out in film but now does theatre to support Driver.

Any film that deals with divorce automatically hits close to my heart, as I come from divorced parents. I'm always interested to see how it will be portrayed differently in each film. And I gotta say, I think the last time I watched a divorce film that was so raw and honest about divorce was 'Blue Valentine' from 10 years ago starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

And while this one isn't quite as dismal and bleak as that one was (there are some endearing moments to be found in this one), this one still managed to portray all of the nitty gritty details and pitfalls that accompany long and bitter divorces.

On top of that, Driver and Johansson deliver what I'd easily consider to be Oscar-worthy performances. Laura Dern also particularly shines as Johansson's divorce lawyer. Overall, while it's certainly not the first film to deal with divorce in great detail, it still gives a pretty unflinching look at the toll it takes, and that was more than enough to make it stand out to me.