"The Truth About Marriage" (2018 release; 82 min.) is a documentary about the challenges posed by marriage and all what comes with it. As the movie opens, we are dropped in the middle of a conversation with a marriage counselor, as if it's in the middle of the movie. Without any further backfround or context, the film makers go from one talking head to the next at a dizzying pace. Along the way we pick up on the fact that marriage for love is a fairly new phenomenon: marriage has been around for about 5,000 years, but marriage for love only for about 150 years. At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from writer/producer/editor/director Roger Nygard, best known for "Trekkies" and "Trekkies 2". Here he reports on the state of marriage in today's society. In and of itself an interesting tropic, except that what I watched was NOT AT ALL what I had expected: the tale of 3 couples who have been married some years now, and what has become of that marriage. Yes, it is in the documetnary, buried midway through, and covering about 15 min. but tjat is it. The rest is a non-stop parade of talking heads expressing their views of love and marriage and the power struggle that comes along with marriage. I must admit, this barely kept my attention, and it's a good thing this didn't last longer than 1 hr. 20 min. as I don't knwo I would've made it to the end. Bottom line: I was frankly misled into thiking this would follow 3 couples struggling with marriage (not unlike, say ,the excellent "Couples Therapy" documentary series on Showtime). It is anything but that, I am sorry to report and this wasn't worth my time.
"The Truth About Marriage" premiered in 2018 and is now widely available on a number of streaming services. If you are interested in the state of marriage in today's society, I'd suggest you check this out, with limited expectations, and draw your own conclusion.
