Announced in November 2017, with the cast joining that same month, the film was shot in New York City and Los Angeles between January and April of the following year. Netflix released the film, which premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2019, and began a limited theatrical release on November 6, followed by digital streaming on December 6.
Charlie Barber, a successful theater director in New York City with his own theater company, is helming a play that stars, as usual, his wife of ten years, Nicole, who is a former teenage movie actress. The couple is experiencing marital troubles and sees a mediator, who suggests they each write down what they love about one another, but Nicole is too embarrassed to read hers aloud, and they decide to forgo counseling.
When Nicole is offered a starring role in a television pilot in Los Angeles, she decides to leave Charlie's company and go to live with her mother in West Hollywood, taking their son, Henry, with her. Thinking the separation will only be temporary, Charlie remains in New York, as his play is moving to Broadway. Despite the couple agreeing to split amicably and forgo lawyers, Nicole—encouraged by her producer—hires Nora Fanshaw, a high-profile family lawyer, who gets Nicole to open up about how she gradually felt neglected by Charlie and how he rejects her ideas and desires. Nicole also suspects that Charlie slept with Mary Ann, his stage manager.
Excited by the news that he has won a MacArthur Fellowship grant, Charlie visits his family in LA, and Nicole serves him with divorce papers. He meets with Jay Marotta, a brash and expensive lawyer who urges Charlie to fight dirty, but Charlie returns to New York without hiring Jay. After receiving a phone call from Nora, who warns him to get a lawyer soon or risk losing custody of Henry, Charlie returns to LA and hires Bert Spitz, an empathetic older lawyer who favors a civil and conciliatory approach.
On Halloween, which Charlie unexpectedly spends in LA, Henry mentions to Charlie that Nicole wants to stay in California permanently. Charlie calls Nicole and angrily interrogates her, and Nicole reveals she hacked his emails and found proof of his affair with Mary Ann.
Bert counsels Charlie to rent an apartment in LA to strengthen his custody case. To avoid going to court, Bert and Charlie meet with Nora and Nicole. Nora says Charlie refused to respect Nicole's wishes to move back to LA and claims Henry would prefer to stay with his mother rather than fly back and forth between coasts. Bert advises Charlie to give in on this point, but Charlie does not want to be separated from his son, so he fires Bert.
Using the first installment of his fellowship grant, Charlie hires Jay. In court, Nora and Jay argue aggressively on behalf of their clients, leading to a series of character assassinations. Nora highlights Charlie's emotional distance and past infidelity, while Jay exaggerates Nicole's drinking habits and threatens criminal action for hacking Charlie's emails. Meanwhile, Nicole and Charlie try to remain friendly out of court and share time with Henry, who is increasingly annoyed by the back-and-forth. Disillusioned with the legal process, the couple decide to meet in private, but their good intentions do not keep the discussion from becoming increasingly vicious. Nicole scathingly claims that Charlie has now fully merged with his own selfishness, and Charlie confesses that he wishes Nicole was dead. Charlie breaks down in tears and apologizes, and Nicole comforts him. Shortly after their argument, they reach an agreement and finalize the divorce. However, Nora negotiates slightly better terms for Nicole behind her back, causing Nicole to feel uncomfortable.
The following Halloween, Charlie again comes to LA. He learns Nicole has a new boyfriend and is nominated for an Emmy Award for directing an episode of her television series. He informs her that he has taken a residency at UCLA and will therefore be living in LA for a while. While everyone is changing into their costumes, Charlie discovers Henry reading the list of things Nicole loves about Charlie that she wrote during mediation. Henry asks Charlie to read the rest aloud to him, and Charlie does so, becoming emotional as Nicole, unnoticed, watches from the doorway. After trick-or-treating, Nicole offers to let Charlie take Henry home, even though it is her night. She notices Charlie's shoe is untied, and, as his arms are full carrying Henry, ties it for him before he leaves.
The premise for the film first came to Baumbach in 2016, while he was in post-production on The Meyerowitz Stories. He began to research the subject and met with a three-time collaborator Driver to discuss the role.[5] In November 2017, it was announced Driver, Johansson, Laura Dern, Merritt Wever, and Azhy Robertson were set to star in the film, with David Heyman producing under his Heyday Films banner, and Netflix producing and distributing.[8][9][10] In March 2018, Kyle Bornheimer joined the cast of the film,[11] and that June it was announced that Ray Liotta had also been cast.[12]
Principal photography began on January 15, 2018, and lasted 47 days through April 2018. Filming took place in both New York City and Los Angeles.[13]
Speaking of writing the film, given his 2013 divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, as well as his parents' divorce (which served as inspiration for his earlier film The Squid and the Whale), Baumbach said:
I have a real connection to the material ... [but] I was also at a time in my life where many of my friends were getting divorced. I saw it as an opportunity to do something more expansive, so I did a lot of research. I interviewed a lot of my friends, and friends of friends, and then also lawyers, judges, mediators.[14]
Following the film's release, Baumbach said, "I showed [Leigh] the script and then I showed her the movie a little bit ago. She likes it a lot."[15]
The film's soundtrack album was released by Lakeshore Records. "What I Love About Nicole", the first track of the album, was released as a single on November 1, 2019. This was followed by the digital release of the album on November 15,[18] and its physical release on December 13.[19]
Although Netflix does not publicly disclose the theatrical grosses of all of its films, IndieWire estimated Marriage Story grossed around $160,000 from five theaters over its opening weekend (and a total of $200,000 over its first five days). The site wrote that "normally, these (estimated) numbers would be disappointing," but, "given the theaters and more limited seating, as well as awareness of imminent streaming access within the month", it was sufficient for Netflix.[30] Playing at 16 theaters the following weekend, the film made an estimated $140,000,[31] and then it made $340,000 from 85 theaters its third weekend.[32] Expanding to 130 theaters for its fourth weekend of release, the film made $360,000, for a month-long running total of $1.2 million.[33] The following weekend, despite being released digitally onto Netflix that Friday, the film made an estimated $300,000 from 120 theaters, and then $120,000 from 80 theaters the following week.[6][34] In all, Marriage Story grossed an estimated $2 million at the North American box office, and $333,686 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $2.3 million.[7][6]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 405 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "Observing a splintering union with compassion and expansive grace, the powerfully acted Marriage Story ranks among writer-director Noah Baumbach's best works."[35]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 94 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[36]
Critic Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote of the film: "At once funny, scalding, and stirring, built around two bravura performances of incredible sharpness and humanity, it's the work of a major film artist, one who shows that he can capture life in all its emotional detail and complexity — and, in the process, make a piercing statement about how our society now works."[37]Alonso Duralde of TheWrap praised the acting and Baumbach's screenplay, saying: "One wonders if Baumbach left references to Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) or Two for the Road (1967) on the cutting-room floor, but either way, Marriage Story is a film that deserves to be mentioned in their company. It's devastating, essential, and destined to be remembered long after this awards cycle ends."[38] In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, Jon Frosch concurred, writing: "Other American films about divorce have portrayed this phenomenon — the legal process driving and shaping the couple's feelings rather than vice versa — but none with the force and clarity of this one [...] It's also funny and, when you least expect it (and most need it), almost unbearably tender, thanks in large part to the sensational leads, who deliver the deepest, most alive and attuned performances of their careers."[39] Rating the film 5 stars out of 5, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it a "wonderfully sweet, sad and funny film" that serves as a "glorious laugh-out-loud, cry-out-loud portrait of a relationship in its death throes" and praised the performances of the cast.[40] Writing for The Washington Post, Ann Hornaday gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and praised Johansson and Driver as the "two-person fulcrum around which this funny-sad, happy-harrowing film revolves."[41]
In a mixed review, GQ's David Levesley opined that the film was "fundamentally, a good piece of cinema", but disliked the unacknowledged upper-class privilege that the characters possessed, commenting: "The world of third-wave coffee, delicatessens and Upper West Side therapy has been done to death and does not speak to as much of the human condition as the people wading through it themselves seem to think."[42] Armond White of The National Review also panned the film's bourgeois themes and the lead actors' performances, writing: "This story is really about class rivalry clouded by a sex-and-cinema surface. The obnoxious sentimentality of Marriage Story forces a filmmaker's self-righteousness on us [...] It is Johansson and Driver who suffer Baumbach's superficiality. This is his least-bad film only because the quality of the performances [of the supporting cast] is improved."[43]
Internet memes
Despite its tone and themes, Marriage Story has spawned Internet memes.[44] According to Wired, a meme of Adam Driver punching a wall during Charlie and Nicole's argument scene has contributed to "re-contextualizing Charlie and Nicole's fight into something light and silly".[45] Driver punching a wall has been repurposed to represent general arguments over trivial matters in which a participant becomes angry and overreacts.[46][47]
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). She received critical praise for her performances in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Miami Blues (1990), Backdraft (1991), Single White Female (1992), and The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994).
Noah Baumbach is an American filmmaker. He is known for making light comedies set in New York City and his works are inspired by filmmakers such as Woody Allen and Whit Stillman. His frequent collaborators include Wes Anderson, Adam Driver and his wife, Greta Gerwig.
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Greta Celeste Gerwig is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. Initially known for working on various mumblecore films, she has since expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing major studio films. Gerwig was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2018.
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Adam Douglas Driver is an American actor, recognized for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers. Driver made his film debut in J. Edgar (2011) and played supporting roles in Lincoln (2012), Frances Ha (2012), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and While We're Young (2014) before gaining wider recognition for his portrayal of Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015–2019).
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The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Noah Baumbach. The film stars Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel and Emma Thompson, and follows a group of dysfunctional adult siblings trying to live in the shadow of their father.
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The Two Popes is a 2019 biographical drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles and written by Anthony McCarten, adapted from McCarten's play The Pope which premiered at Royal & Derngate Theatre in 2019. Predominantly set in Vatican City in the aftermath of the Vatican leaks scandal, the film follows Pope Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins, as he attempts to convince Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, played by Jonathan Pryce, to reconsider his decision to resign as an archbishop as he confides his own intentions to abdicate the papacy.
The 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films of 2019, were presented by Film Independent on February 8, 2020. The nominations were announced on November 21, 2019 by actresses Zazie Beetz and Natasha Lyonne. The ceremony was televised in the United States by IFC, taking place inside its usual tent setting on a beach in Santa Monica, California. Aubrey Plaza returned to host the ceremony for the second time.
The 24th San Diego Film Critics Society Awards were announced on December 9, 2019.
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White Noise is a 2022 absurdist comedy drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach, adapted from the 1985 novel by Don DeLillo. It is Baumbach's first directed feature not to be based on an original story of his own. The film stars Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, and Don Cheadle. Set in the 1980s, the story follows the life of a niche academic and his family as they go through trials and tribulations, beginning with an environmental disaster near their home.
Marriage Story (Original Music from the Netflix film) is the score album to the 2019 film of the same name, directed by Noah Baumbach. The score is written and composed by Randy Newman, who previously worked with Baumbach on The Meyerowitz Stories (2017). Over 14 tracks were compiled into the album, which was recorded at the Newman Scoring Stage in 20th Century Fox Studios, with a 40-piece chamber orchestra, ranging from various instruments. Newman called the score as a "rush of cool water in a moviemaking era that rarely asks for things like lyricism, or instrumental solos".
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