Marriage Story (2019)

Seeing fewer than half the Best Picture nominees has not prevented me from appreciating certain Academy Awards ceremonies, but I still got the urge to squeeze in a fifth out of nine this year. Since there's a wait on the DVDs and I didn't find showtimes convenient, it had to be the only Netflix original other than The Irishman. While MS is popular overall, I had been warned that some dislike it, and there seemed a likely reason it was the only nominee I hadn't heard of before the nominations were announced.

Don't let the title and poster fool you: It should be called Divorce Story. It begins with theater director Charlie (Adam Driver) and actress Nicole (Scarlett Johansson again) listing what they love about each other -- to a counselor as they prepare to separate gradually. At first their split is pretty much amicable, but Nicole backs down from a decision not to get lawyers involved. Soon there's a battle for custody of their circa six-year-old son, Henry (Azhy Robertson), made more difficult because Nicole intends to stay in Los Angeles instead of their old haunt, New York City.

I was not surprised to learn that writer-director Noah Baumbach also did The Squid and the Whale, another comedy-drama about custody after divorce. Thankfully, he appears to have outgrown the bitterness of TSatW. Watching that movie gave me a constant dull ache and no amusement. Charlie and Nicole don't come across as joyless jerks to the same degree, and as mentioned above, we at least understand what they ever saw in each other. The emotions and attitudes move around more, which is a big help for the humor (mostly by caricatured minor characters) and the acting, not least Driver's; I'd never seen him so good at mature anger or sorrow. And Henry, tho exposed to a lot of swearing for his age (a cause for complaint about the filmmaking IMO), doesn't act screwed up or get particularly mad at either parent.

The other film that came to my mind several times because of a similar plot was Kramer vs. Kramer. One problem with KvK is that it focuses too little on one of the title characters; it's basically just the man's story, and he comes across as an innocent victim. MS does far better at balancing both screen time and sympathy (less so for the lawyers, who often push for more brutal measures than their clients wanted). Both sides have their points, and if I were the judge, I'd have to think hard. Charlie does come across as a little worse than Nicole, being obliviously self-centered and briefly adulterous, but he stands to lose more and is the underdog in the case.

You may have noticed the "romance" tag. Don't get your hopes up for the couple remarrying or calling off the divorce, but at least they get over their hardest feelings and don't mind meeting each other periodically.

I wouldn't recommend this story for Valentine's Day, but I would recommend it for when you want an emotional...ride. "Roller coaster" may not be the right term.