‘Marriage Story’ Review: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Noah Baumbach Deliver an Excruciatingly Honest Portrait of Divorce

Whenever I watch Kramer vs. Kramer—an objectively excellent film that I like very much—I can never give myself over to it completely. There’s always a niggling feminist voice in the back of my brain whispering that Meryl Streep’s character was unfairly villainized in her character’s battle for custody with Dustin Hoffman’s character. (Save for that magnificent courtroom speech that was written by Streep, not the screenwriter.) Thanks to Noah Baumbach, I’ll never have that problem with Marriage Story, a moving, excruciatingly honest portrait of divorce that affords equal empathy to both sides.

The divorcees-to-be in Marriage Story are Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson). Charlie is a respected New York City stage director with a play headed to Broadway. Nicole was once his star actress, but she longs to have her own career, and so accepts a role on a new TV pilot. Their son, Henry (Azhy Robertson, who even has a similar haircut to the son in Kramer vs. Kramer) goes with Nicole to Los Angeles. Charlie thinks this move is temporary, but Nicole would like to make it permanent. She’s always wanted to return to her hometown, and Charlie—like any good New York artist—despises Los Angeles. Nicole turned down a career in film to stay with Charlie in New York, and in return, he made her empty promises that they would someday spend more time on the West Coast. She gave Charlie everything he wanted and never asked for anything for herself—until now. At least, that’s the way Nicole and her high-powered divorce lawyer, Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern, essentially playing a more grounded version of her character in Big Little Lies) see it.

From Charlie’s point of view, Nicole has suddenly turned against him.  He doesn’t understand why they can’t work out their divorce on their own terms, rather than involve lawyers who are only going to cost them money, time, and pain. At first, he refuses to play the game. He doesn’t hire the first ruthless lawyer he meets with (Ray Liotta), instead opting for a soft-spoken man named Bert Spitz (Alan Alda). Bert Spitz would never call anyone’s ex-wife a bitch, but he’s also the inferior lawyer. When Bert fails to deliver on the one thing Charlie wants—to have his son Henry live with him in New York—Charlie goes back to the ruthless lawyer. As he feared, things get ugly. Like, really ugly.

All of Baumbach’s films feel personal, but Marriage Story feels like his most personal yet. Even more so than The Squid and the Whale, Baumbach’s acclaimed film about his parents’ divorce, because this time we’re hearing from the adults; not the children. Baumbach has said that Marriage Story is not an autobiography, but the parallels between Charlie and Baumbach are obvious, as are the parallels between Nicole and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Baumbach’s first wife who he met while she was on Broadway. Watching Charlie and Nicole battle it out, you get the sense that Baumbach truly understands his past self’s shortcomings, and he’s willing to do the terrifyingly vulnerable thing of putting those shortcomings on display. As a result, Marriage Story is one of the most complex and honest portrayals of an on-screen couple in years.

Driver, who nabbed an Oscar nomination for BlackkKlansman last year, is the best he’s ever been. Johansson is right there with him; she lets Nicole’s anger simmer under a mask of patience, but also delivers some of the film’s funniest moments, like when she matter-of-factly declares, “I’m changing my whole fucking life,” after telling a man exactly what she wants from their hook-up. Baumbach keeps the camera close on the faces of his leads, capturing every micro-expression of grief, regret, and joy.

If the film has any fault, it’s the mildly frustrating bubble of privilege the characters live in. But portraits of New York’s artistic elite and their New York artistic elite problems have always been Baumbach’s jam, and he’s so very good at depicting this world. The film’s version of Manhattan looks cleaner, less desolate, less teeming with homeless than it does IRL; presumably, this is the way the characters in the film see the city—they’re self-centered like that. There are a few cheesy moments, including two musical numbers from Company (the first works better than the second), that might have fallen flat had Driver and Johansson not been so devastatingly authentic. But they were, and I ate it up. And though this review may not sound like it, you will laugh quite a bit watching Marriage Story. You’ll also feel heart-achingly, wistfully sad. That’s love for you.

Marriage Story will open in select theaters on November 6, before hitting Netflix globally on December 6. 

Watch Marriage Story on Netflix