The Marriage Story thread

Loved Merrit Wever as Johansson's flustered sister as well as Kelly.

I adore Merritt Wever and would watch anything she does. She just resonates with me. She seems so real and unaffected in all her performances. ScarJo is good and Adam's weird looks always disturbs me.

I also liked Alan Alda.

Did anyone watch it today?

Nobody else has watched it on Netflix yet?

It felt long and not my choice for Best Picture. Martha Kelly and Merrit Wever were standouts. And I am being petty but I can't focus on Adam Driver because I keep wondering if he actually has ears--what is with his hair?

It was enjoyable but Laura Dern was the standout for me. She basically sent everyone else home.

I can't bear to see Adam Driver, he makes Cumberbatch look hot.

I thought it was mediocre at best. All the hype it is getting is unjust. It wasn’t that good.

ScarJo did what she does in every movie because she is limited. Adam was fine, but a Best Actor nominee? This felt like a TV movie.

The supporting cast were all better than the leafs, and the kid looked and felt too old to be as young as he is supposed to be. It felt like they cast a 9 year old in a 5 year olds role.

There have already been several threads on this OP. Would it have killed you to have done a search first before you posted this? I mean really? What’s wrong with having a little consideration for others and doing a search first? Would it really have been that hard? Would it? Are you going to be able to give us an honest answer to this? Are you?

Would it have killed you to have at least posted a picture or link OP? Would it? I mean would that have really been so hard? Would it? Why don’t you try to think more of others next time before you post? What's your problem? I mean really, what's your damn problem?

A brilliant film. The year's best for me. Lucky to have seen it in a theatre, phone turned off, focused. Adam Driver gives the best male performance since King Chalamet in CMBYN.

R12 must be a troll.

I liked it better the first time when it was called “Kramer vs. Kramer”.....

I liked it better the first time when it was called “Kramer vs. Kramer”.....

This was literally Kramer vs Kramer but more modern.

Sorry for the double post; I honestly don’t know how that happened.

I thought it was just OK. I completely agree with the idea that it was like Kramer vs. Kramer, but that was done better. It should have been called Divorce Story but you can just picture the suits saying, "No, nobody will watch it with a name like that!"

Merritt Wever completely overacted as did Julie Hagerty. Every time those two were on the screen it felt like the movie had morphed into a sitcom in a totally inappropriate way. I don't blame the actresses, I blame the director for not being able to reign them in.

Adam Driver, who I don't usually care for, has a 5-minute Oscar worthy scene when he drops on the floor crying. C'mon, let's face it, it's scenes like that that get actors nominated.

Scarlett Johansson looks like a little girl in this movie even though she's 35! I found her acting unconvincing.

Best thing about the movie is the structure of the story and I credit Baumbach for that.

I thought it was a great movie. ScarJo and Driver both feel like such fully realized people are pitch perfect, and it does a great job taking you through all complicatedness of dealing with a relationship ending. Also I loved that it was surprisingly funny as well, the scene with Driver and the observer was just great and the ending of that scene was honestly the most I've laughed at movie this year.

I do take your point that is a "rich white people" movie OP. This movie definitely takes place in the world of coastal elites, so not sure how much it will resonate with a working class flyover looking for something to watch on Netflix.

Blue Valentine did it better.

R19 JESUS CHRIST. WHAT DO FLYOVER HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING??? THERE ARE WORKING CLASS IN MAJOR CITIES TOO!!

The majority of NYC is working class. Not Elites. Stupid fucking moron.

R21 needs to see a therapist.

Have you seen the movie hon, it is a very coastal movie with the locations of New York and LA being very central to the film. So if someone lives in Oklahoma that might not resonate as well compared to the entertainment industry types who love this movie, and largely live/work in LA and New York.

I liked it overall and Adam Driver in particular.

Scarlett, Julie and Merrit seemed nothing like a real family to me. I didn’t buy that they were supposed to be so close. Julie in particular seemed to be acting in a sitcom.

I agree r23. Compared to the human performances from Driver and Johansson, the mother character comes in and does seem to be right out of a sitcom.

[quote] the kid looked and felt too old to be as young as he is supposed to be. It felt like they cast a 9 year old in a 5 year olds role.

The part when the kid was either having difficulties reading or when they were discussing rewarding him for using the bathroom I thought the same thing. That's 3- 5 year old problems. Someone damn near ten not being able to read the fox jumped over the lazy brown dog or such is ridiculous.

Since Baumbach was inspired by his divorce from Jennifer Jason Leigh, I was trying to find details that were similar between herself and Nicole (ScarJo). There's the dead actor father, being a Los Angeleno in New York doing a theater collabo with her spouse. Was Leigh's mother Barbara Turner as flighty as Julie Haggerty's depiction? Was Vic Morrow on the down low?

Too long, but still good.

I’m rooting for Adam to win the Oscar

Any nudity?

It's a great performance from him, I would be fine with him winning.

Though the line from the babysitter about "you guys are so hot" felt wrong, it seems like that line was written thinking they would have a traditionally handsome actor as Charlie...but doesn't fit when you cast Driver.

R22 again, I don’t see how the film being set in NYC or LA would make it less relatable to anyone else, as most of the world does not live in those two cities. The focus of the film is a couple going through a divorce and living on opposite coasts, not about the actual cities.

No r28.

The scene when Adam winds up on his knees is so effecting. It breaks your heart. They both did amazing jobs. Thought the movie was well done.

I liked it a lot. It was funnier than I expected, and I see Driver, Johansson and Dern all getting Oscar nods (with only Dern winning).

A very unexpected but welcomed scene was Driver singing Sondheim.

Scarlett needs an Oscar.

I was more moved by Scarlett in JOJO Rabbit, but she's really pushing for a Lead nomination for this versus supporting for JOJO. Besides, it's all but Laura Dern's Oscar now.

No. She doesn’t.

Adam Driver has ears and they’re why he keeps his hair so long.

He looks like a monkey 🙊

Adam Driver is the very definition of ugly-sexy.

I wanted to like it, but it was just ok. I did like the performances, however, but even Dern didnt impress me that much.

I liked Alda a lot.

It was a total snorefest! I really struggled to get through it. Unlikable main characters (includ the snot nosed kid) I could not give two shits about. Agree that Laura Dern was a standout. Really overhyped.

Hope Alda gets a nomination. He’s turned in such great supporting performances over the years.

Otherwise, I was underwhelmed.

I think I would have liked this film even more if it didn't carry the burden of being somewhat over-hyped. The performances were excellent and I think both should be nominated for every lead acting category they qualify for, but I think the film itself could have shaved 15-30 minutes off the running time to make the story that much tighter and emotionally resonant. That being said, I'm thrilled this is getting awards buzz (including Best Picture). I love that it hearkens back to adult-themed dramas from the late 70s and early 80s in the vein of Kramer vs. Kramer, An Unmarried Woman, and Ordinary People etc. I really kind of hope this smallish family drama has some surprising award wins over bloated big budget behemoths like The Irishman and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

Good comment, but they would all benefit from less award talk. Awards have never been more meaningless than they are now.

People comparing this self indulgent uninteresting film to engrossing, well written and directed classic gems like Unmarried Woman, Kramer vs Kramer are either wishing to someday suck Noah's cock or are being paid by Noah to go on threads to hype up this god awful film. All these stand out performances some are saying in the film only proves how pathetic movies are these days . So much so that a semi autobiographical ,(note he couldnt even create an original idea he is so untalented) self righteous pity party, snoozearama as this is can be lauded as a potential contender for an awards sweep!

This was competently done but it reminded me of Michael Haneke’s Amour, which I described as “Disneyland for those who haven’t dealt with end of life issues.” If you’ve been through a divorce (or separation after a long co-habitation), you can give this a pass.

Would it have killed you to have at least posted a picture or link OP? Would it? I mean would that have really been so hard? Would it? Why don’t you try to think more of others next time before you post? What's your problem? I mean really, what's your damn problem?

Would it have killed you to have at least posted a picture or link OP? Would it? I mean would that have really been so hard? Would it? Why don’t you try to think more of others next time before you post? What's your problem? I mean really, what's your damn problem?

This is the first time I heard about the movie, I didn't know it had been over-hyped.

LA-LA-LAND !!!!

R47, I’m really surprised to see Michael Haneke referenced here! Haven’t seen “Amour” because Haneke is devastating enough and I’m grieving.

But I can see the parallel. I also avoid Baumbach because he’s devastating, too. You know you’re going to be going through some rugged emotional terrain.

What a narcissistic self-pitying film. I had to turn it off halfway.

WOW! All I can say is that Adam Driver is a phenomenal actor! Scarlett doesn't take the risks like he does but I really feel like he's Marlon Brando in this and actually experiencing these emotions. I don't have a lot of sympathy for Scarlett's character.

Laura Seen is ok in this. Ray Liotta is too campy and the mother and sister is an over the top cartoon. Adam Driver is the only Oscar deserver in here.

Haneke is far superior to Noah Baumbach. So The Squid and the Whale was about Noah's parents' divorce and now this film is about his own divorce? Grow an imagination, Noah.

Driver is great. Johansson is OK, but the part unfolds in an obvious way. Dern's transformation from fake friend to psychopath is pretty good, but the part is a cliche, ditto Liotta. I like Alda much better as a villain--he's more effective and I don't find myself having anticipatory cringes like he will be Hawkeye Pierce from the latter seasons of MASH.

Don’t understand the Dern Oscar buzz.

R57 take charge bitches are in short supply in film and awards are given to encourage more bitchy women to show it. Reward them for showing that chutzpah that will replace an alpha male.

Saw it at a Festival pre-buzz as I like Baumbach. Enjoyed all the different layers of charming, funny, bitter and brutal. Felt the harsh pain of divorce despite all the first-world comfort.

Driver doesn't appeal but he was spot-on for this part. His hard-sell made the breakdown scene all the more effective, and actually sympathetic. It moved me. ScarJo was attractive and believable. The lawyers were accomplished caricatures, which emphasised the routine horror of divorce litigation.

Loved indeed Driver's surprising but powerful 'Being Alive', which - apart from referencing one of the most sophisticated works about the bittersweetness of marriage - showed that the character's confidence in his own talent was justified. ScarJo's 'Company' counterbalance was great fun too.

Rich people's problems for sure, but a good memorable unregretted watch.

It was drivel with a famous, well-liked cast.

I didn't like Scarlett's character. She was a bitch for no reason. She would not communicate with him.

I felt so sorry for Adam Driver's character the whole time. He was right to break down. It probably was her fault for not being assertive about her needs.

No don't communicate. Just spring a divorce lawyer on your spouse. I really no sympathy for her character. I agree it was over scripted.

R61, of course you’re supposed to sympathize with Driver’s character. Baumbach presents his point of view. Jennifer Jason Leigh would likely have had a different interpretation.

The script was very purposefully evenhanded so that you could understand Nicole's side, and you could understand Charlie's side.

R63 uh... But I didn't. I just thought she didn't communicate her needs and expected her to read his mind. He made a lot of good points. He was the one who didn't want lawyers and she started that.

She didn't tell him she wanted to move to California or communicate her desires to be a Hollywood actress. She lost her identity in the relationship and blamed it on him and put him through hell.

I didn't like how Laura Dern and Scarlett's character's were fake bonding. Imagine how much better this movie would have been if they had decided to work things out, accept the cheating as a one off sign of disconnectedness and worked together to repair it.

To me this movie shows what's wrong with our culture. Because they seemed to really love each other so and they weren't having screaming matches or fights until the divorce. They listed all those things they loved so it came off that she was being selfish.

Something more realistic is her cheating as well and they accept it because they want to put the kid first and not have all the shit that accompanies a broken family. That would have been an actual marriage story. This ought to be called Divorce Hell.

[quote] Imagine how much better this movie would have been if they had decided to work things out, accept the cheating as a one off sign of disconnectedness and worked together to repair it.

Did you watch the movie? The cheating barely had anything to do with why they got divorced. By the time he fucked another girl, they already weren't sleeping in the same room and Nicole wanted to leave him.

[quote]She didn't tell him she wanted to move to California or communicate her desires to be a Hollywood actress.

It is said over and over Nicole tried to get him to move to LA. He would give her vague promises about how they will try to spend more time in LA but never follow through.

Of course they love each other. But what they realized is they are better off without being together. That is something that happens to many couples.

Nicole knew that her needs in life were never going to be a real priorty to Charlie, so the only thing for her to do is to start over without him. I don't know how somehow don't get this. There is a literally an entire monologue where this is spelled out.

R66 ok so maybe it was right on paper but the emotions were more raw with Adam Driver and I felt so terrible for him. Not even Scarlett's tear shedding made me feel sorry for her. Maybe Adam's are more gifted actor.

And Laura Dern taking her shoes off and discussing how to attack him was silly.

[quote]Maybe Adam's a more gifted actor.

You'll certainly get no argument from me there.

We have Lens Dunham to thank for Adam.

I'm not surprised Driver has blown up, if you watched "Girls" it was obvious he was the most talented actor on the screen.

Even his first revolting scene plowing Lena D ass you knew he had something special.

Why do people say Scarlett is wooden? What's that mean? Like puppet? Hollow? I find her nasal whining voice grating but otherwise I think she's a very interesting actress.

None of the actors in this film can touch the DIVINE performance of Meryl in KvK

Stop living in the past you old gays. Just seen it, was amazing. Nothing to do with KvK. For me this one is better, but I think compare them is not fair.

The full cast has been amazing and I totally understand the hype.

Full of haters in here

[quote]Adam Driver gives the best male performance since King Chalamet in CMBYN.

So the best performance of the past six weeks or so?

Driver is the best.

It seemed like a Bollywood movie when Driver got up and sung Being Alive.

My husband enjoyed it, but I found it too talky. It reminded me of those movies that are adapted from stage plays.

I hated the kid so much I'm considering a vasectomy. THey should've been fighting over who got stuck with him

Ray Liotta deserves a shout out. He was excellent as Adan's pitbull attorney and he hasn't looked that good in a while.

^Adam's

"maybe"

What year was this movie supposed to be taking place? It was odd that the characters never looked at their phones.

First half was good. That big fight scene at the end felt a little too contrived and more like trying to give them a showy oscar moment. At the end it was just like 'meh'.

Yes only Adam Driver was hot

It was too wordy and I don't know why anyone would be thankful they had Scarlett Johansson as an actress. Especially with that horrible haircut that made her hair look like a mushroom.

They were all actors or in theatre. How self indulging.

Awful, just awful. Worst indulgent pile of shit I have seen since the last Noah film.

Hope Jennifer sues the cunt

He never invested in his partner. Not emotionally or financially. He turned all profits over to the theater. It was time for her to take control of her destiny. She's an aging actress. Time for her to make bank. It seems like hell for him because he's new to the issue whereas she's further along in the process.

Does the Adam Driver character cheat on his wife with a manic wunderkind dreamgirl actress he directs?

[quote]What a narcissistic self-pitying film. I had to turn it off halfway.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one. It felt like Baumbach explaining himself rather than exploring anything, and reminded me of how Woody Allen used Blue Jasmine to make himself look good -- crazy ex wife narc ruining his life and going insane because she deserved it in Blue Jasmine, versus shallow actress who refuses to communicate at a critical moment and sics a divorce lawyer psychopath on her sad husband in Marriage Story.

With the exception of the "I wish you were dead" and "I hated fucking you" personal and sexualised insults which my parents didn't really do, the big fight and breakdown scene was like an ordinary weekend arguement scene between my parents. I can't imagine being a WASP and holding this shit in for years and being passive-aggressively polite even when pissed off.

Laura Dern's weave is brilliant. I also want her to be my lawyer, therapist and personal trainer.

Laura Dern just carried over her Renata character from that HBO drivel on the weekends when she worked on this film....so un-nuanced.

R91, How often did Scarlett exchange those same words with Ryan Reynolds?

R91 Italians aren’t WASPs

SCARLETT looks are fading fast. Her face isn’t that pretty anymore and the boy haircut needs to go.

I think shes still very pretty. The hairstyle she had in Marriage Story isnt flattering on most women, even relatively pretty ones.

They had to tone down her looks somewhat, she is playing someone married to Adam Driver...

I've turned it off. Should I trust some of you bitches and give it another try?

r79, totally agree. I would not have fought so hard over that asshole kid.

R98 nah it's really just that one scene that brings down the house.

Can we discuss ScarJo's "look" in the film?

Her hair is quite short and in the first part of the film, a rather dark, dull red that is not at all flattering to her. She looks very butch and, in the absence of good makeup, a little patchy and puffy. (She's also 35 now. I was so thrown by her deglamorized appearance that I could not remember her age.)

When she moves to LA and establishes herself, her hair becomes a brighter blonde and it's a much better look for her. But overall, her clothes are awful, and compared to Driver and Laura Dern (both of whom are tall), she looks squat, short, and a bit bloated.

I understand the strive for "authenticity" but I think she went a bit too far. She looks pretty awful.

Here's her "prettified" look in the second half.

Still not loving the hairdo.

Ok, yes she looks a bit like Hillary Clinton but as someone said she is dating someone who looks like this.

Here is a recent SNL promo for Johansson. She looks like what you would think an A list celeb would look like.

I think they purposefully made her ugly for believability.

R89, No,

[quote]Stop living in the past you old gays. Just seen it, was amazing. Nothing to do with KvK. For me this one is better, but I think compare them is not fair.

Aside from being about a divorce, the two movies are nothing alike. In Kramer, the wife takes off and leaves the kid with the husband, who has to learn how to be a real parent for the first time. And they are an old-fashioned married couple where the husband makes all the money at some corporate job and the wife stays home and runs the house. In Marriage Story, they are artistic people who work together, and the wife takes the kid across the country and the husband has to fight to keep the kid in his life. Two completely different couples and situations.

And Kramer vs Kramer came out in 1979... we can't have another movie about divorce after 40 years?

The concept that the audience is not supposed to root for one character over the other is a different one, and hats off to Baumbach for exploring that. Generally in a break-up movie, we're programmed to 'hate' one part of a couple (for cheating, being an asshole, etc.) so we sympathize with the main protagonist. Loved Alda and Liotta, Dern was ok to good but not great. Scarlo's dowdy outfits were puzzling.

The "don't you love all the room there is in LA" was funny-ish the first two times, and tiresome after that.

I was glad I saw it, but Best Picture?

Blue Valentine was better

I assumed ScarJo was channeling JJL’s plain-Jane style.

Has JJL commented on this film?

At least he was honest with casting Driver as a stand in for him.

That's what I thought, R111! Noah is goofy-looking.

Noah's an asshole.

What a bunch of bullshit to pretend the only thing of note JJL ever did was Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Did he miss Last Exit To Brooklyn, Georgia, Short Cuts, Kansas City, Mrs. Parker & The Vicious Circle, Miami Blues, Single White Female, Dolores Claiborne, The Hudsucker Proxy, et fucking cetera??? JJL has always been a strangely love her or hate her presence, but to create a character based upon her and pretend the woman doesn't have a tremendous body of challenging work -- all of which she did before fucking meeting him -- is ridiculous and insulting and cheap.

She did suck on Broadway in Proof, though.

I liked the movie okay. Driver is so profoundly ugly that it's physically difficult, at times, and generally unpleasant to watch him. I do think he's a good actor, though. Scarlett can't act. Of everyone they could have short listed for the project, why did they pick the one who can't act? Wish there'd been more Merritt Weaver (sp?) and I agree that the actress who played the court ordered evaluator was great, as was Alda ("Don't expect much from that cat.") The two songs at the end were a tonal misstep that they should have nixed in editing. And comparisons to Kramer are just fucking lazy thinking: anything about vaguely the same subject is the same thing. Shut the fuck up and try to conjure a thought.

I really find Baumbach to be completely insufferable, unaccountable, narcissistic, cruel and representative of the worst kind of straight male artists who infect the business and our culture.

It could have been so much worse.

Imagine Judd Apatow instead.

Julie Hagerty looks good for her age. I remember when she was the young hot thing in "Airplane." Straight guys LOVED her.

Just watched. I liked it. The Oscar goes to Adam, probably.

Scarlett reminded me a lot of Annette Bening in this one. They could play sisters, if not mother and daughter.

I kept thinking this would be better with another actress besides Scarlett. The rest of the cast was wonderful.

Was the guy going trick or treating with the ex wife at the end her boyfriend?

R119, Yes.

Thanks r120 he looked younger so at first I thought it may be a younger brother

I watched it last night. I don't know if it was great or, beyond Adam Driver's performance, Oscarworthy, but it's one of the few things I've watched nearly straight through without pausing it to check shit on my computer. There's not much I can say that about anymore. The structure of the story worked.

I agree re: sitcom mom and sitcom sis (though I do like Merritt Weaver), but my own brother had similar problems with reading through third grade, so I didn't feel that was too young a problem for an eight year old.

My only problem lay with Nicole's going after Charlie with a lawyer after she'd said she wouldn't. That seemed like soap opera "idiot plotting."

Anyway, so far it's one of only two fictional movies I enjoyed this year, so I imagine it'll be Oscar-nominated. But I don't know about those things anymore. I'm too old, and I didn't bother seeing movies for about ten years. Movies in general are just not an interest of mine anymore (I only sat through 30 minutes of The Irishman).

r121, if you like his body, he's in Halt & Catch Fire, Season 2 on

I think the movie was realistic in that no matter who it is, people change and go into battle mode during a divorce.

I don't ever want to marry after watching this movie.

If Adam wins an Oscar for this then there's no justice. This year the Oscar belongs to Joaquin. If JP doesn't win it's only because of Joker's subject matter, but his is the performance of a lifetime and also the performance of the decade.

r123 didn't realize that was him, I did watch that show and he married Cameron

r127, was Cameron a boy or a girl?

Driver doesn’t deserve the Oscar. He was fine but the performance didn’t call for that much for us to be acting like he did some masterful art.

r128 Cameron was a girl

What's mentionworthy about a male character marrying a girl, I wonder, r130.

He only had a small role on that show, I just meant now I knew who he was on HACF

R132, I was going to watch it if Cameron had been a girl. I just re-upped on Netflix and am running out of things to watch. I started Halt and Catch Fire during season 1, didn't like it much, and quit after 3 or 4 eps. That guy in Marriage Story marrying a [italic]male[/italic] Cameron could have made it interesting. Television heterosexual pairing #6,004,386,019 isn't enough to draw me in, though, to a story I already think I don't like.

So far on Netflix, I've liked Mindhunter, season 2; Marriage Story; The Kominsky Method, season 2; and I'm eagerly awaiting You, starring Penn Badgley (December 26).

I couldn't get past half an hour of The Irishman, what with DeNiro's fake face and the overwhelming sense that I've seen him in this role before. Plus, no amount of makeup or CGI is enough to make me believe in a 76-year-old as a character with preteen children. I've seen him in too many things to be able to suspend that much belief. Plus, a guy who shoots people for a living? Ehhhh.

Any Netflix recommendations, anyone?

[quote]I was going to watch it if Cameron had been a girl.

I mean, "if Cameron had been a boy."

He had a bigger role on Halt than he had in this movie.

If Adam Driver wins the Oscar for Best Actor, Adrien Brody will no longer be the ugliest Best Actor winner.

I find Adam attractive. Jolie laide.

I really thought there was going to be a twist at the end where he enters the house and finds that they had been slaughtered by a stalker fan of hers. The problems with the gate during the blackout being the foreshadowing. It would be like the opposite of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I think I would have liked that ending instead of the Beatles go Halloweening.

I thought Adam and his kid were going to get run down while they were standing in the middle of the street.

I finally watched it tonight. I wish I loved it more than I did. Why would the movie start with a simple black and white title over an american standard song? That is so obviously Woody Allen turf, you would think a director would stay away from it, lest it bring up the obvious comparisons.

I thought ScarJo was fantastic and completely believable. I just do not get the appeal of Driver, and feel like he is being forced down my throat, and that I’m a philistine for not appreciating him. I thought Dern overacted and was not even close to her brilliance in Big Little Lies. She should lay off the alpha roles unless she wants to get typecast.

That scene when Driver sang “Being Alone”? WTF? There was no set up for it at all. What? Was it open mic night and anyone can get up and sing a song? It felt odd and jarred me out of the movie.

I am not sure what emotion I was supposed to be left with. They loved each other. They fought. He capitulated. They moved on. They seem to have rekindled their friendship at the end. So? What was the lesson I learned from this? To get everything in writing? To not marry someone who is from another city? Not to fuck someone you work with? Underplaying and ambiguity are not always virtues.

It was annoying.

[quote]Why would the movie start with a simple black and white title over an american standard song? That is so obviously Woody Allen turf, you would think a director would stay away from it, lest it bring up the obvious comparisons.

I agree. I think Baumbach is a middling talent at best, but also an age-appropriate choice to take up the mantle of Woody Allen (now that Allen's career is essentially over). And Baumbach appears only too happy to do so.

I had to laugh at the line that the director was thought to be hot after having been on the cover of Time Out. I thought they were going to say Time.

Boring and unoriginal. But then again, that seems to be the universal palate for moviegoers nowadays, just like it seems to be the Oscars' bread and butter.

Can't finish it.

Obama liked it, it made his list for 2019

Made me want to sing Being Alive at my next karaoke.

R146, So did The Irishman, Ford vs. Ferrari and Little Women . . . but not Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Bombshell or Knives Out.

I can’t stand -male-identified, pick-me- ScarJo.

I just figure in this age of fucking comic book movies, there's a place for a Woody Allen successor in terms of talky movies. I'll take it.

Just watched it. Thought Adam Driver, Laura Dern and Martha Kelly were the best in it. There's something about Scar Jo that didn't feel right for me. I think it's something about her delivery of lines, specifically how she says them. It doesn't feel genuine to me. She cries A LOT at the beginning and it's completely unnecessary. Julie Hagerty was terrible. Her performance felt like it was from a completely different film. Merritt Wever, who I typically enjoy, was over the top. I blame the director for that. Scar Jo, Merritt and Julie's characters really didn't feel like family either.

Overall, I thought there were brilliant moments in the film but they were few and far between. I was confused why the characters kept mentioning how they wanted to talk to each other but then never do or make time to. They do talk in the scene where Driver punches the wall but again, they don't REALLY talk. It's more like white noise. They don't seem to articulate clearly what they feel. One could probably argue that's true to life but it was frustrating. I agree with a previous post that that scene felt VERY "LOOK AT ME! I'M ACTING! TAKE NOTICE OSCARS!" Also when Driver's character just RANDOMLY jumps into song was SO jarring. There was absolutely NO set up or build up to that moment. I felt that way again when the child finds the mother's letter she wrote during couples counselling. WHY did she keep the letter? WHERE did she hide it? Out of nowhere the child begins reading it aloud. It's a lovely idea and emotionally effective but needs a build up/ explanation. The score by Randy Newman, who's work I like, felt odd in certain places. A piece from the score is played when Driver and the child read the letter and it felt SO out of place.

Anyway, I don't think it's a masterpiece and find many films these days to be over hyped but I am happy it got made. I love the dramas centred on everyday people from the 70s and 80s, so I'm glad this film is getting attention regardless of it's flaws.

I don't get why people find it so jarring to see a theater person decide they want to sing. Clearly you've never been around theater people.

Dern isn't amazing in this but I still want her to win an Oscar. She is arguably the best actress of her generation. Anything that prevents that filthy JLo from winning is good.

I loved it when he sang "Being Alive." I thought he was so good.

I like that segment too but it just seemed so much like a Bollywood movie. A cast member breaking out in song. It seemed strange.

Honestly, if you want a 2019 marital drama (in the form of a grunge girl-band dynamic), watch "Her Smell." I was put off by it for so long due to the ugly cover of Liz Moss sticking her tongue out, but the film (albeit too long) was pretty amazing and the AGYNESS DEYN (yes, that model from 10 years ago) performance was FUCKING EXCEPTIONAL. Many gay men who have put up with shit from abusive straight chicks will relate to the Deyn performance of someone who has to live with a "crazy-maker" (Thanks, Julie Cameron) and abuser. Deyn's character is a lesbian.

Agyness Deyn for Best Supporting Actress. Fuck ScarLo and fugly Adam Driver.

R152 I have actually been around theatre people and yes, they do break out into song. I, myself will randomly sing out of no where. So, I understand your argument. However, I still feel like the scene is jarring. If there was some kind of encouragement by the people around him for him to get up and then he kind of played it off and joked around whilst singing (he kinda does as he does all the voices which was nice but not much) and then as the song progresses it becomes harder for him to the point he can barely finish. Also, if the people around him reacted more, laughing, cheering him but then stop as Driver's character becomes emotional.Then it would have felt more natural, to me. But the people around have a very muted reaction and Driver acts it in a very reserved way or self-conscious as another poster said. The combination of these two factors made it weird for me.

Way overrated. Awful people fight over obnoxious child.

R156, I just finished watching Her Smell and absolutely loved it. I agree—Deyn for Best Supporting Actress. And I would love to see Moss nominated for Best Actress. That was a performance and a half.

Agyness Deyn for Best Supporting Actress in "Her Smell."

Martha Kelly deserves the nomination over Laura Dern. Dern was very good...but Oscar worthy? Kelly was brilliant in a small but important scene

I thought there would be greater consequences for him accidentally cutting himself. The caseworker ran out of there and he passed out on the floor and then nothing.

Also why didn't he fix the hole in the wall he punched, especially before the visit of the social worker?

My favourite character was the social worker.

Rich people's problems. $900 an hour lawyers, being able to fly coast to coast at the drop of a hat, convenient ending.

[quote] I admit that I have a bias against rich white people,

Which sort of people do you prefer, OP?

Well, yes, r165. But we knew all of that going in.

Speak for yourself. I don't read reviews. The only thing I knew going in was the cast and title.

No one mentions how good Ray Liotta was in the film.

He was terrific, R169, as was Alan Alda.

At $900 an hour, they better be!

[quote]I don't get why people find it so jarring to see a theater person decide they want to sing. Clearly you've never been around theater people.

I'm sure most of have not.

Does that shock you?

No need to take a joke so literal r172. My point is one of the establishing characteristics of the character is he works in theater and is too obsessed with it to the detriment of his own marriage. Music is a big part of that. To me him busting out some Sondheim piece to sing with his friends fit naturally.

Maybe I missed something, but wasn't it a karaoke bar? People tend to get up and sing in those.

All this talk about Driver's singing and I completely forgot Scarlett also sang in it.

Yes, the scene takes place at a piano bar.

Why was Ray Liotta wearing eye makeup? Also, how could he get him as his attorney? Earlier in the movie it was suggested that Adam's character can't no longer hire him cause his wife talked to him

No, Adam Driver doesn't hire him originally because he is too expensive for him r177. However he changes his mind and decides to sacrifice his MacArthur genius grant payment to be able to hire him.

R178 wasn't he at his firm when the secretary told he can't hire him cause his wife already talked to him? And then secretary went on to feed the fishes with the kid.

Call AAA, R179 just drove thru a huge plot hole!

[quote]wasn't he at his firm when the secretary told he can't hire him cause his wife already talked to him? And then secretary went on to feed the fishes with the kid.

No, that was a different lawyer. He met Liotta's character first, if I recall correctly but passes on him because of his tactics/fees. Returns to LA goes to meet a lawyer but the secretary tells him that he can't take him on; then he calls his mother-in-law and she refers him to Alan Alda's character.

[quote]Awful people fight over obnoxious child.

I hated that kid. And for him to be an eight year old he behaved like a toddler. He couldn't read, needed a booster seat, had bathroom issues.

The "Being Alive" scene began with a girl singing weakly on stage which establishes the open-mic scenario, so when the pianist begins "Being Alive" Adam Driver jumps up to perform. It wasn't that jarring to me.

Scar Jo's performance of "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" was so much harder to stomach, IMHO. Did she even know the melody? I thought I heard she could sing and even recorded an album at one point.

Right r181. It is a different lawyer's office that Driver gets turned away from because his wife already met with him.

Only 11 first-rank divorce lawyers in all of the LA Metroplex? So Sad Dad is reduced to a trembly octogenarian housed in an alley to defend him?

This Sad Dad cries more than any other American male lead in film history. And he's the first straight guy who knows all the words to "Being Alive" since Dean Jones.

Laura Dern's character is a misogynist's cliche of female power. Dern has to know the part is one-dimensional, and she plays it that way. She'll still get an Oscar nom, anyway.

Heading over to Criterion Channel to stream Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes From a Marriage" for more of the same, but probably better.

[quote]This Sad Dad cries more than any other American male lead in film history.

The movie does open with narration from ScarJo about one of the things she loves about him is that he cries at movies.

I think it is important to the movie's story that he isn't some cliche neanderthal of toxic masculinity. He is a "woke" progressive, but yet his wife still doesn't think he appreciates her as an independent person.

This is another example of when the hype about some movie or tv show is a hype about Netflix. The movie itself is boring and could benefit from being 30 min shorter.

It would have been better to end it on the fade to black after "Being Alive." But Baumbach wanted to give us a happy-ish, unambiguous ending.

60-something Julie Hagerty's little girl voice and child-like demeanor got on my very last nerve.

Agree about Julie, it was cute in her 20s.

I didn't care about ScarJo's mother-sister-family at all. It didn't humanize her, dimensionalize her, or make her more likeable to me. It was just clutter.

And that "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" was a low point in the film. It's amazing how people are zeroing in on Driver's song, which he at least put across effectively.

I finally just got around to watching it. Such a big deal was made about Adam Driver's character not being able to afford a lawyer. So how did Scarlett's character afford Laura Dern? Didn't they share the same bank account? Not only does she go against her agreement with an ex not to hire a lawyer, but she hires a shark expensive enough to clean out her kid's college account? The problem is, I immediately hated her for that reason. It became more understandable, later on, when we find out he cheated on her and she was pissed, but the two don't really connect.

Best line in any movie this year:

Just finger me.

R191, you just have to keep in mind this was Baumbach’s view of the divorce. Jennifer Jason Leigh would have undoubtedly have had a different perception.

I hope JJL makes her own version of the experience directing for the first time and hiring the exact same cast. Now that would be some fun a Hollywood!

Been there done that on '73

Did Noah Baumbach and JJL have a kid while married?

Racist OP is racist.

R196 They had a son in March 2010 and filed for divorce in November of 2010 according to Wikipedia.

R196 R198 When I read about the Timing of JJL leaving Baumbach with a 7-month-old baby, I wondered if he cheated with Gerwig while JJL was pregnant. A very different scenario than the one in the movie.

Is their son in good health? JJL would have been 47 (and Baumbach 40) when their son was born.

Just hypothesizing that there may have been health complications. Most autistic spectrum children are born to over-40 parents. This can put a terrible strain on any marriage.

R200 not always. Some come out healthy.

R201: Well, I dindnt com out norml.

r40 = white people over 40 have been having kids for hundreds/thousands of years. the kid is fine.

It's well established science that older parents mean an increased risk of autism r203.

Obviously most kids will be fine, but the risk of autism is significantly higher. When people wonder why autism is increasing, it ain't the vaccines, that is one of the causes.

r204 - yeah, but i know tons of guys over 40 having kids and they are all fine.

It was alright. Well acted.

I don’t know why it was more about the man baby cheating husband than the wife, though. Even when he tells the wife he fantasizes about her dying every day, she comforts him.

Poor little man baby!

Greta Gerwig has looked so ugly the last times I've seen pictures.

Laura Dern is just playing another Renatta in this film and Scarjo is overrated.

So he passes out from bleeding out and nothing is mentioned about it again?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Is Scarjost toast? 😂

Rohmer. I don't believe I've ever heard that name. German?

R211 Is he named after the French director?

Just watched it. When it began, I thought "how can anybody think Adam Driver is hot?" Then by the end of the movie I was in total lust with him. Did you get a load of those hands? HUGE. The dude is packing an enormous dick. 6'2' and packing with a great body.

Am I the only one who, every 10 minutes, thought, "What a bitch!"?

That made me aware we were really only getting his side of things, which figured when I learned it was based on Bambauch's own divorce. Yet he publicly claims the movie is "A love story told through a divorce."

So, side-eyeing the whole thing. Also, I saw Bambauch and Gerwig on James Cordon's show the other night, and what a vapid twit SHE was! He can really pick 'em.

Trying to elicit little bit of excitement at The Oscar because everyone knows the winners already, there is a some discussions like at Golden Derby that Scarlett may upset Dern for the supporting.

r194 she co-wrote & co-directed The Anniversary Party with Alan Cumming like 20 years ago.

R215, Watched a "JoJo Rabbit" screener yesterday and thought Scarlett was more impressive in it than she was in "Marriage Story".

[quote] It's well established science that older parents mean an increased risk of autism

In a few years he’ll be wiping his cum on the books at the local library. Mark my words!

Finally just watched this.

Truly, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed Scarlet Johanssen (sp?)- She was OUTSTANDING. Absolutely stunning performance.

As much as I am pulling for Renee, I have to say that I would not be bereft if she won the Oscar.

And the dude from Girls, was absolutely outstanding too- (He made me cry!)

The film was far different than I expected. I expected a NYC film- I had no idea it mainly took place in LA.

I thought the mother was Beth Howland

I thought the mother was Beth Howland

Dude from Girls> Scarlet Johanssen

The kid sucked.

One of the (creepy) Academy members interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter for their "inside the Oscar votes" articles made a point about the kid, which I thought was absolutely on the mark, to paraphrase: in order to care about this couple, particularly the Driver character's obsession, one would have to care about the kid . The son is what's at stake here behind all the parents' machinations.

One does not. care, or at least I didn't. The kid is bratty and charmless. Not cute, not sweet. His learning/reading disability is never really explained, and his behavior is just irritating.

So we're kind of left with over 2 hours of Driver and ScarJo beating up on each other, and not entirely clear why.

[R224] Agreed, I hated the kid, charmless and annoying.

I did not realize what. CHARMLESS LITLLE CUNT the kid was until you all mentioned it!!!

Also, I came away loving ScarJo and being underwhelmed by Laura (I expected the complete opposite)..

I may have enjoyed Ray Liotta's performance more than hers..

Ray Liotta gave one of the most underappreciated performances of the year.

Plus, he hasn't looked that good on film in years.

It’s because I switched to CHANTIX® , r227.

Agreed, R227. I like Laura Dern but I felt Liotta and Alan Alda were the standout supporting performances.

I felt like ScarJo's family members (Hagerty, et al.) were underutilized and I didn't really get the point.

Agree with every word R229.

And I loved Alda too.

[quote]r227 Ray Liotta gave one of the most underappreciated performances of the year.

What?? With about 10 lines of dialogue?

R231, Yep.

Your point R231?

I didn't see the conflict in this movie. The husband, who admitted he never wanted to get married, has his homely wife and ungrateful, irritating, mentally-challenged son hightail it to the opposite coast leaving him free to sing and have every chorus boy suck his 13x8x5 cock.

Adam's singing scene was self congratulatory and obvious.

R231 This is why I feel there should be Oscars for itty-bitty but memorable performances, not quite supporting. I'd have given one to Ray, and also to Rebecca Gayheart in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." Actually Rebecca's role was REALLY itty bitty, but I laughed.

I hope they gave Gayheart a company driver.

So glad little diva Adam "OMG I can't see or hear recorded images or sounds of me!" wasn't rewarded. Hopefully we'll see less and less of him.

Could they have made ScarJo any less attractive? I thought it was funny how his affair was practically dismissed, when in the real story it's what broke up Noah Baumbach's marriage. It made her look villainous and him practically a saint. I wonder what JJL felt about it.

So...was I gay or not??!?

The husband really came across as a loser. Was that the director/author’s intent?