Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story

the actual camerawork and staging was great, and yeah I agree the whole ensemble is great

I saw it at a theater

btw i would like to disagree thoroughly with the idea that this movie is an exculpation of the bad behavior of the dude. absolutely not

I think it would be really funny to go on Twitter and yell at this movie for being "MRA propaganda"

I loved that Alan Alda said the system was stacked against the father, but that was as it should be, because it was to protect mistreated women. Had that scene been mishandled, yeah, it's MRA propaganda.

yeah I don't think it is either, it's not specific enough. he's made movies about divorce, he's familiar with the material.

thinking more about it, I keep coming back to Wiseman. the thoroughness in showing each step of the process reminded me of Juvenile Court, Public Housing, some others... Baumbach isn't for me but I feel better about this movie now, I think there's more going for it than I initially thought.

xxp

Can only imagine the eureka moment when someone thought of that Serious Moonlight costume.

this was good, alternately funny and moving, cast is uniformly excellent and keeps things interesting. Plot was kind of inert and I kept thinking Driver was too young for the role (which is odd given that ScarJo is the same age, I guess she's just been around longer and I assumed she was older). Visually it's workmanlike, as is par for the course with Baumbach. Didn't strike me as a departure or exceptional - there's other stuff of his I found more engaging (Frances Ha, While We're Young, Greenberg, Squid and the Whale) - but at least he's consistent and I get why ppl/critics are grateful for a guy that just makes regular movies about adults adulting.

*Shakey wanders to microwave with lunch*

I admit I wanted to know the punchline to Alda's joek

https://decider.com/2019/12/09/alan-alda-joke-marriage-story/

not a full enough version imho (ie, "it was great, the hotel renovation was done...")

It’s a good joke!

definitely worth paying legal fees for imo

it's kind of indulgent in the movie cuz it's unfinished AND I don't see how it applies to the Driver character

joke + ticking clock is probably my favorite scene in the movie

alda and driver play wonderfully off of each other

it's kind of indulgent in the movie cuz it's unfinished AND I don't see how it applies to the Driver character

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius

That's the point, though? We've all been in scenarios with inapposite jokes told by people trying to make us comfortable.

the goy? who cares!

but yeah the point is that Alda is wasting Driver's time by being diversionary

well yes, go for shark Liotta

The real problem with MARRIAGE STORY discourse is this is the first Ray Liotta meme I've seen and the only memes I want to see from this movie are Ray Liotta memes. https://t.co/1rbSiFcNSr

— Peter Labuza (@labuzamovies) December 11, 2019

I know Liotta's not looking fit lately, but, boy, are the ruddy face, choice of ties, and bludgeoning voice perfect for this kind of showboating fraud (who happens to be very good at his job).

Sometimes it’s nice to be indulgent in movies

i don't disagree

this was excellent. that fight! Adam Driver's singing scene!

I liked this too! (although the Driver drywall scene should've gone in a different direction, agreed.)

xpost I also thought the lighting and color was weird. It looked like it was shot in a Gap dressing room.

the discourse around this movie is fuckin excruciating

No part of the discourse has prepared me for everyone binge watching a Noah Baumbach movie IMMEDIATELY and then making memes about it like it’s the Avengers disintegration scene or something

where are you seeing the memes

Twitter

It maybe drives home the sad point that people on/around media and/or weird twitter are often too lazy or don’t make enough money to look at anything that isn’t on Netflix

I think we've identified the source of your problem

is there a meme around the scene where Wallace Shawn seems to say he got a beej from Streep?

Yes!

(not really)

wallace shawn was my favorite character in this

I watch almost everything on netflix because it's the only service I have. I guess I would have to pick "lazy".

The serving scene was my favorite too. There was such an ease with all the actors.

xps I thought he said 4 time Oscar winner in that scene (though I’d have to go back and check) - which would mean it was K Hepburn, not Streep.

even stranger

Wouldn't put this on a year end list or anything but I liked it fine. Worst thing I can say about it is I thought Scarlett Johansson had some super clunky acting moments, and just generally seemed really not up to a lot of the demands of this kind of really talky material. Particularly stood out for me in her monologue in Laura Dern's office, which played like an awkward rehearsal, she seemed really at sea. Maybe the years she's spent doing superhero stuff have left her rusty w/r/t the demands of this kind of material.

Thought the big fight scene was definitely affected in that predictable Method-y way but it still worked for me within the film. Wouldn't have been as kind to Driver's song - great song, great singing, but no idea why the movie had to come to a full stop for him to sing it, especially after we'd already crossed the 2-hour mark.

Also I am ready for movies to find a different way of signaling that characters are smart & talented in a creative field than having them get a macarthur grant.

we have different definitions of "a full stop"

Wondering what made you feel that way about the Laura Dern office monologue scene.

Monologues definitely happen when unhappy people finally have someone who is listening to them. Nothing felt false or out of place there to me. It might have sounded like an awkward rehearsal because it was -- Nicole's been writing these lines and this is her first table read.

the character herself is at sea. scarjo turned in a credible performance throughout imo, i didn’t once think “wow scarjo is trying really hard,” i just kept thinking about nicole

The scene itself as-written made sense and was fine imo, I just feel like Johansson didn’t stick the landing. It’s written as a really stagy technically demanding huge chunk of dialogue, and requires her to naturalistically do a lot of these deceptively hard actor-tricks, having stuff pop into her head, getting caught off guard by emotions that are appearing unexpectedly, having it look real while also making sure she’s getting across what is basically exposition, while also getting through this huge mouthful of articulate dialogue. I think she’s really good and but i just didn’t think she was 100% up to it, I could see her grinding her gears & felt like I was just kind of watching an actress really energetically recite a whole bunch of lines. Ymmv though

I don't think it's a 100% "maturalistic" film.

yeah i feel that. like i said, didn't ruin the movie or anything but couldn't help but notice it. Driver's chops as a stage actor really stood out in comparison imo.

Now that I'm thinking about it, realizing that's her biggest scene without Driver - they def elevate each other in their scenes together.

The film “A Marriage Story” (2019) should instead have been named “A Divorce Story” pic.twitter.com/5mKGgCzb08

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) February 24, 2020

celebrity astronomers are very prosaic folx

there's something wrong with this man

loool