Marriage Story (2019) is a very engaging drama film with lashings of black humour. Directed by Noah Baumbach, it starred Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a successful married couple facing divorce.

They want to make the process amicable and straightforward, but once extroverted lawyers get involved the situation becomes increasingly childish, spiteful, and stressful.

This was a Netflix production, so you can only find the film there. Well worth your time, though, as it’s a very engaging and thoughtful couple of hours.

Wading Through the Mire of Divorce in Marriage Story

The film begins in instantly brilliant fashion, with Nicole Barber (Johansson) and Charlie Barber (Driver) listing the various qualities they like about each other.

It’s a great intro, giving us an immediate insight into who these people are:

• Smart
• Ambitious
• Talented
• Likeable

But not without their foibles, showing a highly competitive streak between them in their respective theatre/acting careers. Charlie has his own theatre company in New York and Nicole is an actress for stage and TV. They’ve been married for 10 years.

It’s a topic that Baumbach has explored before in the excellent indie cult classic The Squid and the Whale (2005). His parents divorced when he was younger, which has had a big impact on his writing.

Here in Marriage Story, as with his 2005 film, the love has fizzled out. Divorce looms on the horizon, which the couple approach in amicable fashion (at first). But once Nicole drafts in flamboyant lawyer Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern on awesome form), proceedings rapidly get complicated as a battle for money and the couple’s son Henry kicks off.

Despite the staggering expense, Charlie decides to draft in equally combative lawyer Jay Marotta (Ray Liotta on awesome form, too).

With the legal stage set, the once amicable situation between the Barber duo descends into pettiness, petulance, and vindictive behaviour.

All whilst legal costs continue to spiral out of control.

The couple gets increasingly stressed and arguments become common, culminating in one particularly explosive episode between the two when Charlie allows the emotional intensity to overcome his sense of reason. Some of these scenes are very intense, but they aren’t just there for show. Director and writer Noah Baumbach structured every moment carefully.

Meanwhile, the battle for their son rages.

That leads to a brilliant bit of black humour when Charlie is trying to win over a legal official for shared custody of the couple’s son. He cuts himself by accident and has to try and behave normally.

Johansson and Driver were on excellent form in Marriage Story and the film is a total triumph, in our opinion! Not least as the script is so sharp, deadpan, but never wandering into a space whether Charlie or Nicole is in the right.

Overall, it’s a brilliantly engaging, funny, charming, but sad time of it. It’s just an exceptional depiction of how a couple’s plans unravel at speed.

The intended amicable divorce, which they were both accepting of, descends into a bitter and immature battle of wills. All largely created out of nowhere by two raging ego lawyers, whilst the impossible legal costs mount up, but the Barbers allow their worst impulses to take over their reason.

Great stuff, then, and well worth a check out on Netflix.

The Production of Marriage Story

Marriage Story was shot in just 47 days, from January to April 2018, with shoots taking place in New York and LA.

The film had an $18 million budget. Once finished, Netflix gave it a limited cinematic run on November 6th 2019, but from December it became a streaming-only option.

During its brief run in the cinema, Marriage Story made $2.3 million at the box office. Netflix rarely releases official viewing figures, so we’ve no idea what kind of viewership the film got after its launch.

It was critically acclaimed, though, and also bagged six nominations at the Oscars. Laura Dern (most famous for her Jurassic Park role as Ellie Sattler) went on to win for Best Supporting Actress, which was very well deserved. She’s an immense talent, but often doesn’t get the limelight over other actors.

Since the film’s launch, it’s gone on to claim cult classic status.

It’s also a notably cut back set of roles for the two leads, with Adam Driver fresh off his Star Wars roles in 2019. Johansson has been in all manner of things and is one of the most famous actresses on the planet, but this role about married life shows her acting chops off to a serious degree.