Marriage Story

Surely this must have drawn heavily from writer/director Baumbach's own experiences. He was married to Jennifer Jason Leigh and they have one son, plus before they divorced in 2013 he began a relationship with Greta Gerwig in 2011. So he probably lived much of what is depicted here.

The two principals, Adam Driver as Brooklyn stage director Charlie Barber and Scarlett Johansson as actress Nicole Barber, are superb in their roles. While it seemed like they were happily married for 10-odd years, with an 8-yr-old son, Nicole began to more and more feel that her own desires were being ignored while as a married couple they always did what Charlie wanted. When she gets an opportunity to take a TV role in Los Angeles she also decides that it is the right time for the two of them to split up. Charlie is blindsided.

It is often a hard story to watch because even to the end it is clear that, in spite of the required animosities during divorce proceedings, Nicole and Charlie have a bond and care deeply for each other.

My wife and I (both having gone through divorces of our own years ago) watched this on DVD from our public library.

I didn't expect this to mirror how my ex wife and I had to go through the stages of divorce so accurately. My son was only 2 when we were divorced and all of the ups and downs and petty fights and anger that we had for each other was exhausting but we went through it all just to fight for him, who we both love more than anything. We said horrible things to each other we can never take back but we didn't really mean and we both eventually found a way to make it work for him and to protect him from the ugliness. We made it through to the other side and have a good relationship now and work as a team to raise him with love and support but it was a long road out of hell to get there. This movie portrayed that in a way I would never have expected. It made me cry numerous times thinking of how hopeless and angry I was for so long and in that I feel like this movie deserves every accolade it gets. It felt genuine and painful but with hope at the end. It's real and powerful.

Never has a depiction of tying shoelaces made me so emotional. This film was an incredibly realistic depiction of divorce and the extreme toll it can take on both parties. Simultaneously an exhausting film it is also very humorous and true. Both of the main actors gave the most amazing performances. Although everyone wants a happy ending, life seldom works out in the way hoped for. This film gets dark but there is a bright yet stunted light at the end of the tunnel. Neither wife nor husband get what they had ultimately wanted yet they both are content. There is a strange serenity that sets in at the end of the film. Nothing can be perfect, but with enough effort, everything can be enough.

This movie is unequivocally carried by its stellar acting performance from its leads. Throughout the movie, you will feel the emotions of the actors and actresses on the screen and what they are going through. And the story itself does a good job at trying not to paint a black and white picture of a divorce instead making it a grey affair where both the man and the woman are in some part in fault. This is one of 2019s best acting and you need to see it just for that.

I bursted out laughing just to burst out into tears a scene later. And so on. It broke my heart into pieces and then healed it. Noah Baumbach shows his screenwriting genius once again, whilst every single piece of acting from leading Driver and Johansson and from all the supporting actors is absolutely impeccable.

2020 Oscar winner ladies and gentlemen, that's what I hope for