The latest from auteur filmmaker Noah Baumbach, his second for Netflix, premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday to a combination of discomfort and laughter. Marriage Story is a tale of divorce starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson that’s clearly semi-autobiographical, and to the majority of critics in attendance, it’s also a personal triumph for the director. This is likely to be an awards contender for at least members of the ensemble cast, and maybe the screenplay. Still, if you’re not a fan of Baumbach, this might not change your mind.
Here’s what critics are saying about Marriage Story:
How does it compare to Baumbach’s other work?
Arguably Baumbach’s opus, his best film to date.
–Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
[It’s] easily the wisest film of his career, one that’s only sharpening.
–Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out
It is Baumbach’s funniest, most fine-grained picture since 2012’s Frances Ha.
–Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
With Marriage Story, Baumbach cements his reputation as one of this generation’s leading humanist filmmakers.
–Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
This is the work of a filmmaker in full command of his powers.
–Jon Frosch, Hollywood Reporter
Marriage Story is theNoah Baumbachmovie we’ve been waiting for. It’s better than good; it’s more than just accomplished… this, at long last, is Baumbach’s breakthrough into the dramatic stratosphere.
–Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Will his fans like it?
[It] develops a unique tone that even Baumbach fans may not fully recognize at first… Marriage Story reflects a new level of narrative sophistication.
–Eric Kohn, IndieWire
Yes, this is another movie about the misadventures of relatively wealthy, straight white people. That may, understandably, put some people off.
– Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
Those who find themselves impatient with Baumbach’s cozy self-reflective world of pampered middle-class intellectuals will not take any comfort here.
– Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International
(Photo by Netflix)
How is the script?
Baumbach’s brilliant screenplay never falters or hits a wrong note… he writes scenes that are like verbal arias.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Expertly scripted by Baumbach as a showcase for subtle, natural monologuing.
– Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out
Marriage Story is at its best when it just the two leads talking in a room.
– David Jenkins, Little White Lies
Baumbach has a real knack for witty, eccentric and yet natural-sounding dialogue – something whichMarriage Storydefinitely lives up to.
– Thomas Humphrey, ScreenAnarchy
Is it reminiscent of any other films?
Kramer vs. Kramer, Scenes from a Marriage, and Shoot the Moon… Marriage Story makes a worthy addition to that canon.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
You may be reminded ofKramer vs. Kramer, but that movie, for all its fireworks, was lopsided.
– Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out
Not since David Fincher’s Zodiac has a movie placed such absorbing emphasis on the jigsaw puzzle of searching for solutions that may never fully resolve themselves.
– Eric Kohn, IndieWire
The film that came to mind while watching Noah Baumbach’s punishingly incisive dissection of a messy break-up and divorce was… in fact Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
– David Jenkins, Little White Lies
I was often reminded of Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale, a film I can watch multiple times and always find myself siding and empathizing with a different member of a combative, dysfunctional family.
– Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
Like Ingmar Bergman’sScenes from a Marriage— an inevitable influence — this is a tough piece of work, steeped in pain.
– Jon Frosch, Hollywood Reporter
Will it make us all feel miserable?
Somehow, in spite of the bleakness of the subject matter, it feels more redemptive than despairing.
– Geoffrey Macnab, Independent
It’s wrenching stuff to be sure, but it’s also excruciatingly funny, loaded with empathy, compassion, and understanding.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
Tonally, the film is mostly upbeat: Adam Driver makes for the nicest, friendliest, most lovable gaslighter in the history of cinema.
– David Jenkins, Little White Lies
Baumbach seeks to mine his material for laughs, no matter how desperate the situation becomes.
– Xan Brooks, Guardian
Marriage Storyputs you through the wringer, but leaves you exhilarated at having witnessed a filmmaker and his actors surpass themselves.
– Jon Frosch, Hollywood Reporter
Does Baumbach do a good job mixing tones?
Baumbach performs a brilliant balancing act.
– Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
Sometimes the film’s erratic zaniness undermines the gnarly vérité of its darker moments, but mostlyMarriage Storyis well balanced.
– Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
Baumbach finds the perfect blend of humor, humanity, heart and yes, suffering, to create an utterly compelling, harrowingly three-dimensional portrait of divorce.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
Speaking of balance, is the story one-sided?
Marriage Story may often resemble a tug of war between its stars, but it’s on both of their sides.
– Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
Some will sayMarriage Storyfavors Charlie… but Baumbach is at once hard on, and forgiving of, the two characters, and audience sympathies will likely seesaw.
– Jon Frosch, Hollywood Reporter
Put it this way, in its core DNA, when it drifts off to sleep at night, Marriage Story’s true heart is in New York (Baumbach’s home), not L.A.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
There’s a way in which Baumbach seems to want to tip the scales of sympathy toward the guy in the story—Nicole’s behavior sometimes comes off as a little too ruthless.
– Stephanie Zacharek, Time
It’ll be interesting to see what side you come out on… whether or not you come out feeling that one side wins too heavily over the other in the war for your sympathy.
– Thomas Humphrey, ScreenAnarchy
How are the performances?
Johansson delivers brilliantly textured work.
– Xan Brooks, Guardian
[Johansson’s] ability to carry some of the movie’s more frustrating showdowns illustrate her capacity to look stern and fragile at once.
– Eric Kohn, IndieWire
Driver, in particular, the stand-out MVP if youhadto name just one of the leads.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
Props especially go to Adam Driver, who at times is the best I have yet seen him.
– Thomas Humphrey, ScreenAnarchy
Driver gives a bold performance… his choices add great depth to the role as written: he would seem a natural for awards attention here.
– Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International
Both manage to outdo themselves.
– Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
The sensational leads deliver the deepest, most alive and attuned performances of their careers.
– Jon Frosch, Hollywood Reporter
Both have major awards potential.
– Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
(Photo by Netflix)
Are there any other standouts?
A phenomenalLaura Dern.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
One of the pleasures here lies in three tremendous performances from Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta as the LA lawyers who represent the couple.
– Geoffrey Macnab, Independent
Alda’s real-life Parkinson’s tremors fuel what may be his saddest performance.
– Eric Kohn, IndieWire
All hail Julie Hagerty, utterly sublime as Nicole’s ditzy pant-suited wine mom.
– David Jenkins, Little White Lies
Robertson eschews any and all artificial cute-kid tics and delivers a genuine performance.
– Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
Are there any big complaints?
The film can sometimes manipulate events into scenarios which aren’t entirely convincing.
– Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International
Marriage Storydefinitely doesn’t always get it right. It’s not entirely tonally pitch perfect.
– Thomas Humphrey, ScreenAnarchy
Will it affect our own marriage?
It’s well worth your time. Maybe don’t watch it with your spouse, though.
– Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
Marriage Story also serves as a kind of horror movie preview, an inadvertent cautionary tale, that leaves you rushing to get home to your partner and treat them as well as possible for as long as possible.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
Marriage Storypremiered at the Venice Film Festival onAugust 29, 2019. It will open in limited theatrical release on November 6 and be available to stream on Netflix on December 6.
#1
Marriage Story (2019)
95%
#1
Adjusted Score: 116739%
Critics Consensus: Observing a splintering union with compassion and expansive grace, the powerfully acted Marriage Story ranks among writer-director Noah Baumbach's best works.
Synopsis: A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a grueling divorce that pushes them to their limits.... [More]
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Azhy Robertson, Laura Dern
Directed By: Noah Baumbach
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