Marriage Story is Heart-wrenchingly Good

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Marriage Story is a phenomenal and depressing movie. 2019 seems to be, for whatever reason, the year film felt like tackling agonizing and realistic depictions of breakups. From Midsommar's fantastical take on a relationship's unraveling during cult rituals, to Marriage Story (which I feel should have been called Divorce Story, since it's a little misleading), film has began agonizing over the details of romantic relationship's downfalls with no hope in sight of any sort of reconciliation. 

I would like to begin this review with confessing my adoration for Adam Driver, and admitting that it took Jojo Rabbit for me to realize Scarlett Johansson can act in roles other than playing the silent tough lady. Marriage Story, however, really shows more depth and levels to her acting. It's unfortunate that the infamous fight scene has been circulating the internet as a bit of a meme, since within the context of the film it's heartbreaking and has some of the most realistic arguing I've seen. I'm shocked that a movie with acting this great came from Netflix.

The film is part musical, part drama, and according to Google it's also a comedy. I fail to see the comedic elements in Marriage Story because, sure, it has some funny scenes, but really it's just going to make you cry like a baby if you have a heart. There have been movies about dissolving relationships before, like the equally painful Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, but they rarely strive to display the legal side of a divorce or a marriage which is crumbling due to one simple issue - lack of communication. Blue Valentine's divorce takes place because of alcoholism and emotional abuse, Marriage Story's divorce happens just because the pair couldn't communicate their dreams and wishes as properly as they should have.

It isn't all sad fight scenes though, there are also some brilliant and stressful moments in which Adam Driver must prove his worth as a father in order to have shared custody over his son, plenty of frustrating discussions with lawyers who are determined to paint one parent into a villain, and also a lot of scenes that were clearly written just to make me cry.

I know I'm privileged to have parents who are still together, given divorce rates, and this film really succeeds in depicting why divorce happens so often. It's not because of abuse or cheating, most of the time it's just because two people don't know how to say what they feel. One can't say she wants to live in Los Angeles and feels trapped in New York, and the other goes on oblivious and under the impression that they're living out their dreams together.

I usually despise Netflix original movies. Occasionally they'll do alright with a television series, but for the most part they tend to release formulaic and boring films. However, with The Irishman, Marriage Story, and The King, I'm starting to think Netflix might be discarding its standard formula in favor of giving directors and screenwriters a whole lot more creative control. I've even noticed the three previously mentioned movies showing in local theaters, so clearly Netflix is finally doing something right. I hope they continue releasing decent content, and maybe the age of Bright, Velvet Buzzsaw, and Death Note is finally behind us.

Marriage Story is currently streaming on Netflix.

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