Barber vs Barber

Award season is upon us. While most of the previous calendar year was full of tentpole movies that were hit or miss at the box office, now is the time when the film industry pats itself on the back for the few weeks when they released good products upon unsuspecting audiences. And now that Netflix has officially been agreed upon as a studio worthy of being nominated for major awards (much to the chagrin of Steven Spielberg), the streaming service has not one, but two aces up its sleeve for Best Picture, among other possible awards. The first, I already reviewed, in the form of the much hyped “The Irishman”, but then there’s the more downplayed drama that I’ll be talking about in this review, “Marriage Story”.

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, “Marriage Story” is the cautionary tale of Charlie Barber (Adam Driver), a New York theater director, and Nicole Barber (Scarlett Johansson), a Los Angeles based actress. The duo are filing for divorce, and a series of unfortunate events are only making matters worse for them. Charlie is fully devoted to his theater, along with all of the cast and crew who work there, and he has also just won a MacArthur Fellowship. Meanwhile, Nicole has moved to Los Angeles, and is starring as the lead for a television series. The distance between the two only puts a bigger strain on their divorce process, as the two try to remain civil to one another, to various degrees of success and failure.

I titled this review “Barber vs Barber” because this movie reminded me of a similar film starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, “Kramer vs Kramer”. Much like that film, this one has the husband jumping through hoops in order to be with his son, and maintain a steady lifestyle in order to not lose child custody and to leave the marriage without severe financial damages. You do feel bad for Charlie, as he’s doing the best he can, but the universe is out to get him, especially Nicole’s cut throat lawyer, Nora Fanshaw (played by Laura Dern). Fun sidenote: If you’re a Marvel and/or Star Wars fanboy like I am, you can pretend this is an elseworld story about what would happen if Kylo Ren and Black Widow were married.

This movie is what I like to refer to as a “stage play movie”, in which we have a limited amount of settings, as well as a minimalist cast, and there’s a lot of talking and exposition going on. Thankfully, the dialogue is well written and delivered with great performances, so everything feels natural and never boring. Driver is easily the MVP of the movie, having to put all of his skill sets on display, be it doing comedic voices, having screaming and crying fits, and even breaking out into song. Johansson does well for herself, too, proving that she can do more than just smiling in a coy manner or staring blankly at something off screen, as she does in all her other movies. She even cries once or twice. Dern’s Nora comes across as friendly, but everything she does seems to have evil intentions within the court case, as if she’s taking personal delight in ruining Charlie’s life. Rounding out the cast are decent, yet short performances from such classic actors as Ray Liotta, Alan Alda, and Wallace Shawn, who each bring some personality to otherwise stock characters.

As I mentioned, the dialogue is so well written, and the lines are so expertly delivered. You would swear that these are real people and you’re a fly on the wall, looking into their lives, rather than watching actors who are playing out roles. That’s really the highest praise I can ever give to a movie. Even the way the film was directed with its cinematography, and how the camera follows behind characters or moves through a location feels natural, as if you’re in the location with them. One standout scene is the beginning, in which we get information dumps about what Charlie and Nicole are like as people, although it’s all intercut with scenes of them acting out in life what is being described about them. The other major standout scene is the shouting argument between Charlie and Nicole that happens near the end of the second act. By this time, the two have been through so much, that you feel emotionally drained along with them, and wish they could just get along.

While there’s no major flaws to the movie, there were somethings that I found irksome. There’s Charlie and Nicole’s son, Henry (Azhy Robertson), who does just fine with his performance, but frankly, I’m not a fan of child actors. Robertson is not some kind of acting prodigy like Haley Joel Osborne or Dakota Fanning back when they were in their prime, nor is he horrible and cringeworthy as like say, Spencer Breslin. I just really didn’t want to see the kid, nor did I care about him. Yes, he’s important to the plot, but I always wished for the story to focus on something else whenever there’s sequence where his relationships with Charlie and Nicole are highlighted. And while Dern’s performance is good and believable, her character is off putting. As I said before, she seems to take great delight in making Charlie’s life a living hell. We see what Charlie going through hard times, so we feel bad for him, but it just makes us hate Dern’s Nora even more as she seems very insincere when she claims it’s nothing personal against him, even when she’s smiling the entire time and using every dirty trick in the book to discredit Charlie in court. Lastly, there’s this annoying running gag about New York vs Los Angeles, particularly about how LA has so much more “space” to it. I’m sure to Baumbach and the actors, this joke was hilarious, but after the joke is said for the third or fourth time, it’s already tiresome and unfunny.

Overall, I give “Marriage Story” a well-deserved four out of five stars. This is a well made and performed movie, that I recommend watching to see what all the award season hype is about. But a fair warning to anyone who comes from a divorced family, or has been in a divorce, this movie will hit you right in the feels. It’s not really a date night movie, as it’s like an anti-rom-com, so it’s best to watch it with your fellow film buffs, rather than with loved ones. And the biggest moral of the story would be: in the event you get married, get a prenuptial agreement, so you save yourself from even more heartbreak and legal problems. That concludes this fanpicked review. And remember, when it comes to the media that you consume, be like Indiana Jones, and choose wisely.

Short Version

Pros:

Outstanding writing, especially with the dialogue.

Strong and believable performances all around.

Cons:

Characters like the Barbers’ son, Henry, and Dern’s lawyer, Nora, can be off-putting.

The New York vs Los Angeles running joke is overdone and unfunny.

Verdict: **** (four stars out of five).