Second Thoughts on ‘Marriage Story'

I already wrote about Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” [09.12.19 review] which, like many of Baumbach’s films, felt messy but adoringly passionate. That’s the thing about Baumbach, he infuses so much passion in his Woody Allen-inspired stories, trying to mix both comedy and drama, that the narrative can sometimes be all over the place.

I do want to elaborate further about “Marriage Story,” what with its unanimous rave reviews and the fact that pundits are, misguidingly, touting this film as a Best Picture frontrunner (it isn’t). At the end of the day, this is still a Noah Baumbach movie, albeit one done with a little more restraint and conventional wisdom than, say, his previous films. Maybe this is just the kind of statement he needed to make to finally graduate to Oscar contention. However, as far as I’m concerned, it’s not necessarily the boldest movie he’s made either (watch “The Squid and the Whale” and/or “Frances Ha” if you want bold cinematic invention).

Since this is actually a divorce story, comparisons to Robert Benton’s “Kramer vs Kramer” were going to be inevitable, even if Baumbach’s film, a tender, touching and heartfelt statement, does try to break out from the mold created by Pollack’s masterpiece. The problem is that, despite conforming to a wider movie audience with this film, Baumbach’s film doesn’t have the staying power that it thinks it does. “Marriage Story” doesn’t necessarily have the memorable stakes that Benton’s film had — ‘Kramer felt like a much more penetrating and involving film. ‘Marriage Story” feels like ‘Kramer’ but done in hipster-ish condescending ways.

One thing “Marriage Story” does do admirably well is take a plot about divorce between parents, a cinematic trope that has been around for ages, and turns the cliches in over their heads. Baumbach strips down the cliches and decides to solely focus on the aches and pains of his two main characters, Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) — both going through a high-stakes NYC/L.A. divorce

The personal connection for Baumbach with this story is well-known, he went through his own marital issues with L.A. actress Jennifer Jason Leigh back in 2013, eventually divorcing her and settling down with born-and-bred New York partner and muse, Greta Gerwig.

But the movie is much more than that.

Baumbach’s keen eye for the way people talk and act has always been there. No surprise then that his wise script is filled with his own unique brand of cinematic DNA, which has always been heavily-inspired by Woody Allen’s incisive New York dramedies. The intimate 35mm camerawork courtesy of Robbie Ryan (who also shot Baumbach's “The Meyerowitz Stories”) is aided by a vast array of incredible performances throughout. It’s not just Driver and Johansson, but also Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta who are all excellent in this.

Letting his characters and scenes breathe throughout the overlong 135-minute runtime, Baumbach has Nicole and Charlie’s plight taking center stage in every frame. He rarely takes sides, but rather just lets the situational crisis evolve over 2+ hours The back-and-forth he-said/she-said is a fascinating aspect of this film and will no doubt lead to a conversation about which side Baumbach is actually on.

And yet, I’m hesitant in calling Baumbach’s movie a “great” one. It has across-the-board immaculate performances, a deeply rich screenplay, and Baumbach’s recognizable directorial style, the latter a mix of both Woody Allen and Jean-Luc Godard’s sensibilities. But, despite the 135 minutes, the story does feel slight, as if you are always on the outside looking in, never fully able to immerse yourself into the drama at hand. It’s a film that you can respect much more than fully embrace.