Marriage Story - Free Movie Review Sample

Introduction

Marriage story is a film written and directed by Noah Baumbach in 2019 (Baumbach, 2019). The movie involves a married couple Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), the actress, and Charlie (Adam Driver), a stage director. There are grieving, denial, and anger in the movie. The films capture the deceptive nature of divorce, whereby two people who care about others do unexpected things. Nicole, together with their son (Henry), moves to Los Angeles to film a plot (Baumbach, 2019). Charlie plans to visit her, whereby she delivers divorce papers as advised by her attorney Nora. Nicole wants to stay in Los Angeles with Henry while Charlie wants the family to stay in New York. The difference becomes the primary cause of the war between the two parents. Charlie has to move to Los Angeles for court proceedings and back to New York to stage a play. Each one starts to fracture and becomes different versions. They get a divorce with Nicole hoping Charlie never to see Henry again (Baumbach, 2019). The film covers sociological aspects in the family institution as Nicole and Charlie go through divorce and child custody issues.

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Family Setting Violence

The film demonstrates violence within a family setting, which involves the husband and the wife. In the firm, Charlie and Nicole frequently are engaged in bitter arguments, and sometimes the husband is seen punching the wall. Adam yells loudly closer to Nicole's face and tells her that his wish is to get sick (Baumbach, 2019). Also, Charlie says he would be happy if Nicole got hit by a car and passes away. Families are expected to be satisfied, coordinating, and a place both parents would be happy being a part of it. A man is expected to respect his wife, and in case of disagreements, they should solve calmly or call a third party to help retain their relationship (Kühl, 2020). It is ironic for Charlie to wish misfortunes to occur to his wife.

The couple also is involved in a brief argument in a mediation office during the separation process. While in the office, Nicole gets angry and storms out of the office. The statements show hate among couples. The relationship between Adam and their son Henry is ruined as he is seen in the film yelling at the child and pulling his arm towards the car. Many yelling is seen among three, even though the child is small, the parents argue publicly. Some instances of yelling at each are when Adam yells for his son and wife because of Hallowed custom for their son, he yells during court proceedings (Baumbach, 2019). The two parents argue and yell at each other about the custodian of their son. The continuous yelling and argument between the couples demonstrate the lousy relationship between Adam and Nicole.

Main Challenges

The marriages faced two main challenges that evolved and resulted to divorce. First, Nicole received a TV pilot offer in Los Angeles, which meant she had to separate from Charlie, who lived and worked in New York. The second conflict between the couple was Charlie's accusations of having a secret affair with his co-worker. Despite knowing she had to fly to Los Angeles, Nicole did not discuss her husband's matter. Nicole claimed to have spent her 20's searching for herself and saw traveling to Los Angeles as an opportunity to separate from Charlie (Baumbach, 2019). In marriages, significant decisions like moving away from the family for work usually discuss both couples for a collectively agreed decision. However, Nicole saw as a chance to separate from her family and take away their son and start a new life far from Charlie.

Aspects of dominance in a family are present in the film when Nicole tells Laura Dern that she felt smaller in the marriage. She claimed her husband to be a malignant and intractable narcissist who could not listen to her ideas and opinions. She felt to have lost herself and the purpose of life. After realizing his wife was traveling to Los Angeles for a TV pilot show, Charlie made a joke and did not take the matter seriously, something that hurt Nicole (Baumbach, 2019). A family is an institution created by the parents and the children, and everybody has a right to air a view and gain attention. Charlie dominated the family to the point that his wife felt small and voiceless in the family. She felt worthless, which triggered her decision to file for divorce upon arrival in Los Angeles.

Nicole chose to settle the marriage stressors by visiting a divorce lawyer despite the family's issues being solved by a marriage counselor or therapist. Often couples who want a divorce are those in affairs, their personalities are incompatible, and none has an interest in each other. Despite the disagreements, Nicole and Charlie had an opportunity to talk and learn about each to save their marriage. The couple was much concentrated on their jobs on chose work over family. It is evident when Nicole chooses to live in Los Angeles to run a TV show and left her husband in New York. Couples have a responsibility to create time for family, and in most cases, the family is a priority over other life issues. It shows that work can destroy families.

Divorce Process

During the divorce process, money and custody come out as primary sources of contention between Charlie and Nicole. Nicole wants to take their son along with him in Los Angeles, and she does not want her husband to be allowed to visit him. Charlie also is not happy after realizing the plans of Nicole to take their son to Los Angeles (Baumbach, 2019). There is an argument on who should keep the child and each parent's rights towards their son. After getting an opportunity to star in a TV pilot in Los Angeles, Nicole gets an excuse to bring Henry along to live with her mother. Surprisingly, in the court proceeding for their divorce, Nicole, through her lawyers, asks for full custody of Henry to stay in Los Angeles. It's a common sociology issue in families after the couple has separated to have conflicts upon their children's control (Kühl, 2020).

Marriage, over time, has become an institution where people expect more and more out of it (Kühl, 2020). Thus, couples should help each other to grow and self-actualize. In the marriage story film, Nicole is always unhappy because her husband does not support her ambitions, which leads to her decision to end the marriage. Marriage should be a combination of strengths from the partners and work together to uplift each other's careers for the well-being of the family (Kühl, 2020). The marriage story shows some gendered elements where Charlie dictates marriage matters and undermines Nicole limiting her capacity to grow. Charlie dictates where the family should live and where to be by deciding they should live in New York where his career is based. When it comes to moving the family to Los Angeles, Charlie complains because it was about his wife's career. There are vapors of patriarchy.

A misunderstanding has become a significant source of family break ups (Kühl, 2020). In the film, Nicole and Charlie's complications arise not because of only conflicts concerning their careers and personalities but also because of their incapacity to know each other's state of mind and perceptions. From the beginning of the film, Nicole is already aware of the relationship's unfortunate relationship as she finds it hard to grow her ambitions and achieve her goals while in the marriage. For Charlie, it takes almost the entire film for him to realize Nicole's perceptions and thinking. It's after her wife files for divorce that Charlie knowns her concerns.

The films begin with the two coupes describing characters of each other. Charlie views Nicole as a person who gives excellent presents and always mysteriously brews a teacup, but she does not drink. Nicole describes Charlie as a self-sufficient man as he can cook, iron clothes, and darn socks (Baumbach, 2019). Despite the couples getting a divorce, the film ends with a gesture of care whereby Nicole ties Charlie's shoe and allows him to take with him, Henry. They show that parents who have children together will always remain family. They love each other, although they do not deserve to be together.

Despite the couple loving each other, they turn to different versions and turns rivals. They use secrets and lies in the divorce case as Nicole wants a separation and full custody of their son. She tries to create an enemy between Henry and her husband for the personal gain of acquiring full custody of their son. In the description of individual personalities, Nicole is portrayed as more carrying of family issues than Charlie but is easily influenced by outsiders. She is said to listen to strangers for a long time, loves playing with their son Henry, cares only for her mother and sister, and careless by not closing the cabinet (Baumbach, 2019). Charlie is described as greedy and competitive. In the family's social setting, it is difficult to understand each other's traits quickly, and require patient and understanding to live together. Nicole gets overwhelmed by Charlie for thinking much of himself (being competitive) and opts for a divorce to get an opportunity for growth and self-actualization.

Conclusion

Marriage story is a film showing the dissolution of a family that initially seems perfect. Demonstrates the painful process couples encounter in the divorce process and the inevitable side-effects. The couple suffers in the process of divorce even though it seems amicable. Charlie and Nicole experience challenges during their separation that results in regrets later. They have to attend the mandatory court hearings, pay the enormous lawyer fees, and stay with stress. The involvement of a minor in the process made the process messier and challenging and brought out the two civil parents' worst. Children act as the bond between the parents to make the marriage an institution. Separation of parents who together gave birth to children becomes challenging as they all fight for their custody and safety (Kühl, 2020). The couple does not trust each other to be worth staying with their son. Charlie describes Nicole has an alcoholic who is not worth living with their son, while Nicole describes Charlie as a person who mistreats Henry.