Marriage Story movie review
Marriage story is a family-based story directed by Noah Baumbach. The story involves a family that has been through problems for years. After enduring their problems and seeking advice from a counselor, Nicole decides to break up and face the good and the bad that will follow. He brings up several issues such as betrayal, cheating, and negligence as the cause of the family’s problems (Tallerico). Although the family has been through painful problems, Bambach is trying to bring out the challenges associated with divorce. In his movie, Noah equates divorce to death, which brings about denial, grieving, and anger (Tallerico). Unlike other films based on family challenges and divorce, the movie uniquely focuses on a specific case involving a family that has been through tribulations, and all of a sudden, one partner chooses to divorce just after ironically reciting the strengths of their marriage.
The movie brings out the consequences which follow after a family chooses divorce as the only solution to their marriage problems. It begins with Nicole, the main protagonist reading a script they wrote, which highlights the strengths of his husband, Charlie. The list was presented by a counselor who is helping through the divorce (Tallerico). Charlie is portrayed as a caring man who takes time to listen and loves playing with his son. The movie can be described as a domestic drama with several scenes of humor. Although there have been several separations before, the problem intensifies when Nicole goes to Los Angeles to film a movie. The film describes Charlie’s negligence as the underpinning cause of the family woes. In addition to this, Nicole wants to steal their son and live with him in L.A., portraying both partners as evil. Baumbach is trying to create a situation where poor decisions can land couples into problems they can never imagine.
Nicole’s decision to hire Norah to help them through the divorce exposes the family to extreme difficulties. With Charlie living in New York and Nicole in Los Angeles, the partners incur too much to cater for flights (Tallerico). This excites the lawyers who are only happy to enjoy high hourly rates. Though Charlie is not interested in the legal proceedings requesting his partner to divorce outside the court, Nora convinces Nicole to take the matter to court (Tallerico). This creates a huge rift between the two leaving no room for any form of reconciliation. The lawyers amplify their problems by capitalizing on every bad thing the partners said or done against each other.
The movie brings out human relationships as the central theme. It tries to evaluate a real-life situation where couples find themselves in challenging situations that require them to make informed decisions to restore their relationship. It brings up how betrayal and cheating among partners can lead to constant problems. Forgiveness, as enshrined in Christian teachings, is key in solving family-related issues. The movie generally describes divorce as a last option in solving family problems. This has made me reevaluate my previous belief that through a divorce, I would quickly solve family-related issues. Although some mistakes are unforgivable, there are numerous ways through which couples can solve their problems without having to break up. In my view, the movie’s values and message were neither religious nor Christian. This is because their marriage and divorce are based on the countries legal framework leaving out the idea of Christian or religious marriages.
Works Cited
Tallerico, Brian. “Marriage Story Movie Review & Film Summary (2019) | Roger Ebert”. Rogerebert.Com, 2019, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/marriage-story-2019.