Pieces of You - Marriage Story
There have been an inordinate number of movies about love over the years. As perhaps our most indelible emotion, it manages to find its way into nearly all of our best stories. But for as many times as the subject of love has been tackled, Marriage Story manages to find novel ways to add to that canon. In both major and minor strokes, it is an unforgettable experience that will make you examine the through lines relative to your own life. There are pieces of you in this story because there are pieces of all of us. Just how accurately we are all captured here is the magic of the experience.
Charlie (played exquisitely by Adam Driver) and Nicole (played by Scarlett Johansson) are a beautiful young couple who have successful careers in entertainment and a crumbling marriage. Charlie is a stage director and Nicole is a stage and television actress. After years of divergence in their desires, they now face the prospect of divorce. Initially, both parties wanted to “do it without the lawyers,” but after minor disagreements become major, the once peaceful separation becomes an all out war.
At the center of their marriage is their son, Henry, who becomes the fulcrum in the increasingly contentious divorce. Fueled by their lawyers (played by Ray Liotta and Laura Dern), the couple pull out all the stops in an effort to hurt one another and and ultimately win custody of Henry. Along with the emotional back and forth, this is a movie that is concerned with the mechanics of divorce. From logistics to lunch, it find its texture in the feel of a disintegrating union.
If you are a romantic, this will wreck you. There is so much about it that is sweet and heartfelt and honestly unlike anything else you are likely to see on the big screen. This is a sophisticated portrait of people falling out of love. There are people saying the things you learn not to say in a marriage and coming to grips with what this means for their futures.
This is also a capital “T” Towering performance from Adam Driver. There are an infinite number of choices he makes from scene to scene that give real complexity and heft to his character. And that’s to say nothing of the emotional peaks he reaches in moments that will leave you floored. He is such a presence in every scene and gives the movie its spine and verve.
But none of this would have been possible without Noah Baumbach’s script and warm direction. He has such love for these characters and this story and it comes through in every frame. He has a special way of capturing the actual tragedies in a story like this. It is not the blowup confrontation, it’s the emotional drag of your child not being thrilled about two Halloweens. It’s not that one party drains the other’s finances, it’s that no one will really get the life they signed up for. Baumbach fits it all in.
This is not a movie where you will forget that it is a movie. It is stilted and very intentional in its choices, but in the best possible way. There is no illusion here. This story is working very hard to put you in the throes of this decaying marriage and that it most certainly does.
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