Sucked in by the outsized proclamations of Oscar greatness in the Arts section of last Sunday's New York Times, I fired up Netflix and suffered through -- I mean watched -- Marriage Story. To be honest, I turned it off after ten minutes, not being in the mood for one of those self-conscious, "aren't-we-deep-and-profound" products showcasing the talents of its director, writer and stars basking in their 15 minutes of fame. But feeling as if I owed it to my readers, since this will surely be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best God Knows What Else, I went back and settled in. (So now you all damn well better read this review.)
The eponymous marriage belongs to a young, successful couple in the entertainment industry: Charlie (Adam Driver) is a hot Broadway director and his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) is an actress whose star is rising. We meet them in arbitration so never get to see them as a happy couple, although we hear about it in Nicole's teary-eyed (and Oscar-winning?) monologues. Instead we see the coming apart, the fighting, the vitriol, the bitterness, and the downright hatred that has festered within their relationship, despite sharing an 8-year-old son they both adore. So far, yawn.
In fact, yawn all the way through. There are lawyers on both sides who are fairly interesting to watch. Laura Dern plays one of them, but unconvincingly. Who would ever hire her, with her slinky, tight dresses and 6-inch stilettos, long stringy hair and tons of makeup almost but not quite concealing her wrinkles? Nicole did, and tells her plenty of inside stuff to help grab most of Charlie's hard-earned cash, plus child custody.
In response, Charlie interviews several lawyers, one of whom is an oily bottom-feeder (Ray Liotta) who announces his fee as, "$950 an hour, so for any dumb questions call my assistant who only costs $400." Hating him, and too poor anyway, Charlie moves on to an older, gentler, but obviously ineffective loser (Alan Alda) who Charlie likes but ultimately feels will get him nowhere in this epic battle. In the end, the bottom-feeder wins out. The rest is all typical divorce stuff, but two moments stand out -- the first for being really dumb and the second for being really great.
The dumb one is when a court-appointed social worker visits Charlie's house to observe him with his son. Charlie spends days getting ready, buying furniture and rugs, renting indoor plants, and even framing his son's art to hang on the walls of his newly purchased apartment in LA (all to please the court since he really lives in NY but Nicole has filed for divorce in California where she was born and has family). Surely he would use one of those framed art pieces to cover the hole in the wall he punched during an argument with Nicole, it's visible the minute you walk in. But no. So the social worker sees it, understands it and probably makes a mental note that "this guy is violent." Oh please.
The second standout -- the great one -- is in the film's final act and makes the whole thing worth watching. Moved by recent events, Charlie spontaneously grabs the mike in a New York night club and, surrounded by his theater friends, sings "Being Alive." It is quite beautiful and the most gut-wrenching moment in the film. But save yourself all the rest and see it on YouTube. (Google "Adam Driver Sings" and it comes right up.)
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| Adam Driver spilling his guts and possibly winning an Oscar. |
In fact, yawn all the way through. There are lawyers on both sides who are fairly interesting to watch. Laura Dern plays one of them, but unconvincingly. Who would ever hire her, with her slinky, tight dresses and 6-inch stilettos, long stringy hair and tons of makeup almost but not quite concealing her wrinkles? Nicole did, and tells her plenty of inside stuff to help grab most of Charlie's hard-earned cash, plus child custody.
In response, Charlie interviews several lawyers, one of whom is an oily bottom-feeder (Ray Liotta) who announces his fee as, "$950 an hour, so for any dumb questions call my assistant who only costs $400." Hating him, and too poor anyway, Charlie moves on to an older, gentler, but obviously ineffective loser (Alan Alda) who Charlie likes but ultimately feels will get him nowhere in this epic battle. In the end, the bottom-feeder wins out. The rest is all typical divorce stuff, but two moments stand out -- the first for being really dumb and the second for being really great.
The dumb one is when a court-appointed social worker visits Charlie's house to observe him with his son. Charlie spends days getting ready, buying furniture and rugs, renting indoor plants, and even framing his son's art to hang on the walls of his newly purchased apartment in LA (all to please the court since he really lives in NY but Nicole has filed for divorce in California where she was born and has family). Surely he would use one of those framed art pieces to cover the hole in the wall he punched during an argument with Nicole, it's visible the minute you walk in. But no. So the social worker sees it, understands it and probably makes a mental note that "this guy is violent." Oh please.
The second standout -- the great one -- is in the film's final act and makes the whole thing worth watching. Moved by recent events, Charlie spontaneously grabs the mike in a New York night club and, surrounded by his theater friends, sings "Being Alive." It is quite beautiful and the most gut-wrenching moment in the film. But save yourself all the rest and see it on YouTube. (Google "Adam Driver Sings" and it comes right up.)
Glad I missed this one!!
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure to watch the end since I like Adam. Thank you for your detailed information.
ReplyDelete