Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story follows a theater director, Charlie (Adam Driver), and an actor, Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), as their marriage comes apart and a gentle split turns into a bicoastal legal fight over their young son. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 before reaching theaters and Netflix, and the reviews were glowing. Many critics called it the best film Baumbach had made.
What critics loved
The two leads came up first in nearly every review. Jon Frosch at the Hollywood Reporter called them the deepest, most alive performances of both careers, Neil Smith at Total Film said they were stunning, and Moira Macdonald at the Seattle Times found them remarkably good in every scene. Xan Brooks at the Guardian singled out Johansson's richly textured work, while Rodrigo Perez at The Playlist thought Driver was the standout and also praised Laura Dern as Nicole's lawyer.
Critics were just as taken with the writing. Owen Gleiberman at Variety called it "the Noah Baumbach movie we've been waiting for", and Joshua Rothkopf at Time Out called it "easily the wisest film of his career". Several reviewers were surprised by how funny it is. Mark Kermode at the Observer described it as an often hilarious heartbreaker, Robbie Collin at the Telegraph called it Baumbach's funniest film since Frances Ha, and Alonso Duralde at TheWrap praised its brilliant balance of comedy and pain. Geoffrey Macnab at the Independent also pointed to Alan Alda and Ray Liotta as the other divorce lawyers.
Where critics split
The doubts were mostly about balance and tone. Stephanie Zacharek at Time felt Baumbach leaned toward Charlie and made Nicole a little too ruthless, while Karen Han at Polygon thought both sides got a fair hearing. Fionnuala Halligan at Screen International found some scenes steered into situations that didn't quite convince, and Richard Lawson at Vanity Fair felt the film's zany moments sometimes undercut its darker ones. Andrew Crump at Paste thought it was too polished, saying "Baumbach rarely lets the film be as messy as it needs to be." Richard Roeper at the Chicago Sun-Times and David Edelstein at Vulture were mixed, and Rex Reed at the Observer disliked how the story moves in and out of focus.
A few critics also noted that a divorce between a wealthy, artistic couple might put some viewers off. Eric Kohn at IndieWire raised that risk but argued the film rises above it.
The consensus
Critics treated Marriage Story as superbly made, with career-best acting and a sharp, naturalistic script, which puts it high on the QC scale. Fun is lower but still strong: reviewers found far more laughs than a divorce drama suggests, and Peter Bradshaw at the Guardian praised its moment-to-moment pleasures. It is still a painful, draining watch, and the Hollywood Reporter warned it is steeped in hurt. Expect to laugh, wince and probably cry.
Sources
- Rotten Tomatoes: Marriage Story first reviews (Variety, Time Out, The Playlist, Telegraph, TheWrap, Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Guardian, Independent, Screen International, Time, Vanity Fair)
- Yahoo Entertainment: First Marriage Story reviews court major Oscar buzz (Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, Variety, Independent, IndieWire)
- Cinafilm: Marriage Story critic reviews (Observer, Total Film, Guardian, Seattle Times, Polygon, Paste, Chicago Sun-Times, Vulture, Washington Post, Empire, The Atlantic)