Marriage Story (2019)

The fear of change and failure.

"Marriage Story" follows the events Charlie and Nicole Barber must face in the process of getting divorced, while still trying to keep their family together, but also dealing with their own emotional break up and mourn for the love they have for each other. This story screens nothing but pure emotion, evoked by its fleshed characters, and will get into the viewer's skin along the journey this couple must take in order to overcome this real and fearful complication many families deal with.

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, "Marriage Story" is a self-driven movie in the way it doesn't rely on big and complicated plots in order to work, instead it focuses on its characters and a strong narrative followed by an excellent and moving score as well as an accurate editing. The movie's central question, that wants you to answer as you watch it is: "Which are the feelings these two characters feel along this story?". As you try to answer it with each scene, magic comes in because you fill your heart with compassion about this family leading to the viewer to even question itself about his own relationships; achieving a comprehensive and empathetic audience about the characters' actions and decisions. This is the reason the movie success portraying believable emotion derived from a humanized self-destructive conflict.

Acting on this movie is masterfully executed by Adam Driver (Charly) and Scarlett Johansson (Nicole). They achieve such a bond on scene that each time they are on screen, the movie shines in a compelling duel between order and impulsiveness this couple lives in, hoping to get along with each other as their separation takes place, but also to protect not only their interests about their career and their son but also their huge love. Both of them are astonishing on their own moments, pushing the boundaries of sadness and joy painting this moments, nor black nor white but grey, as life itself.

The movie excels in its narrative using various elements to complement what actors are expressing on screen. For example, the scene cuts and camera framing are well exploited. The first one leads the story in the right direction, avoiding it to feel tedious or overwhelming with the exposure scenes and the emotional moments. The second one, helps the audience to pay attention to the details and perspectives the characters in camera need in order for you to feel on their feet. 

The score sounds familiar and goes along the narrative placing nuances  between what you feel as you watch the movie and what you understand of what is going on screen. This quality is a well known feature of  Randy Newman and has characterized him from his work at Pixar with the score for the Toy Story and Monsters Inc. franchise, and it plays an important role in the movie, since the music helps the audience understand the feelings of the characters in moments where only their actions talk as well to emphasize the relevance of the scene it's part of.

Even though the film focus on the story of Charly and Nicole, the director uses the supporting characters, grasping the opportunity to show many grim aspects of the modern society such as domestic violence, male chauvinism, stressful daily life and lack of active listening within the family. However, this out-loud and clear warning messages for these problems might confuse some of the viewers since they feel harsh sometimes, as protest messages should be. For some, this fact will be considered as a trait for a bold and society based movie or a flaw for a subtle narrative based movie.

In conclusion, "Marriage Story" is some of the best movies in recent times in view of the fact it exploits the most of the cinema resources such as acting, scoring, directing, writing and editing in order to deliver a memorable and nostalgic story of one of the most relevant complications for families nowadays. "Marriage Story" is an excellent movie not only because it is so well executed, but because it succeed on sharing emotions through the screen to its audience at the same it questions the way families do in modern times, which is the same to question about the way society is settled;both the two fundamental goals of art.

Release Date: November 6, 2019 (few theaters) and December 6, 2019 (Netflix’s streaming service)
Director: Noah Baumbach
Written by: Noah Baumbach
Music by: Randy Newman
Staring : Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Laura Dern
Running Time: 136 min
Country: United States