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33+ Marriage Story Reviews – Adam Driver Phobia Explained
December 19, 2019 December 18, 2019 ~ Todd Russell	~ 3 Comments
Marriage Story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It seems Adam Driver has a phobia watching himself act and sing.
The actor, 36, was in the middle of an interview with NPR's "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross when he exited the Philadelphia building after Gross played a clip of Driver singing in his latest Netflix movie, "Marriage Story,"
Adam Driver storms out of radio interview over clip of him singing in 'Marriage Story' | Fox News
The clip played was from Marriage Story where Driver is singing the song "Being Alive" by Stephen Sondheim from the 1970 play Company:
Performed live and in one take — Driver is very talented
Had no idea the history of this song while it played and as I listen back to the lyrics, it adds an exclamation mark to what's happening in the film. The divorce process is draining and here is Charlie, the director, in a state of invulnerability unable to express himself, except through song. Genius move in the film that I didn't catch on the first view.
Instead, I was thinking, OK, he sings a song, she sings a song and I did catch that some of the lyrics were dark, but now that I've done deeper digging on the song and understand the play it derives from it adds another layer of power to the movie.
If you haven't seen Marriage Story yet it's available streaming on Netflix and firmly lodged in my personal favorite 2019 movies, in the top five movies as of this writing at #4, just behind #3 The Irishman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ another Netflix original movie.
More Reviews By Others
A Constant Visual Feast: "I appreciate the level of craft that went into this thing, and the level of personal sentiment that went into it, too, but I don't know, I really can't abide the volume of precious writing that went into this thing."
An Odyssey Through Film: "…teems with obvious albeit affecting emotionality, an appropriately distressing breakdown of legalism in the divorce process and stellar efforts from all key players that help make this one of the best films of 2019 and Baumbach's career."
Bob: "…hurt by its length where various well-acted scenes become sadly tedious. As a result, you are left as relieved by its eventual conclusion as our husband and wife who find a way to renew their respect for each other as the marriage finally concludes."
But Why Tho Podcast: "…a heartbreakingly beautiful film with some of the best performances of the year because of the raw emotions our leads display, more specifically Driver."
Charlie Morris Proofreading (4/5): "…what I can be sure of is the talent of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. Their long scenes of uninterrupted, painfully honest dialogue are astounding"
Chris / Session10 (5/5): "Charming, funny and sad in equal measure, Marriage Story, despite the subject matter, is the best love story you will see this year."
CineMuse Films (4/5): "You don't need to be a divorce voyeur to find this well-trodden story highly absorbing, mostly because the two stars make it hard to take sides."
Deadly Movies & TV (Grade: A): "Having Johansson and Driver delivering the best work of their careers, and some of the best of the year so far, certainly doesn't hurt. This combination of elite acting and brilliant writing had produced one of the most perceptive films of recent years; identifying what makes divorce so hard, but also why people fall in love with each other in the first place."
Dina and a Movie: "If you enjoy movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or The Breakup, then Marriage Story is probably worth a watch. If nothing else, you'll get to pretend Nicole and Charlie are just Jessa and Adam from HBO's Girls 10 years down the line."
Dylan McDermot Reviews (Grade: A+): "…one of the most mature, honest films I have ever seen. I felt like I was able to step into the lives of two strangers during one of the worse periods of their lives and walked out of it feeling like I've known these two my whole life. I've never seen a Noah Baumbach film before and I need to fix that."
Essential Movies (8/10): "The movie is very ambitious and quite promising but the movie itself forgets that when it's halfway there. I loved it and I do recommend watching it but don't go in with too much expectations because that always ruins the fun."
Erik: "One of the hardest parts of watching Marriage Story is trying to convince yourself that Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver were ever a happy couple. But if you can suspend this initial disbelief, the movie is so captivating because it is so real, and this particular argument was one of the most believable lovers' quarrels on film"
Fast Film Reviews / Mark Hobin (4/5): "…is a heartbreakingly effective portrait of how love fades where it once blossomed."
Franz Patrick's Film Archive (4/4): "…an effective drama with observant comic moments because it bothers with the details: of the divorce, of how a parent interacts with his or her child; of how a child processes difficult situations; of how a lawyer's strategy changes when provided potentially juicy information; of how feelings and motivations change with time."
Ghost Dog: "These characters are fully realized as their lives unfold before our eyes on the screen. Baumbach reminds me somewhat of Woody Allen in his more serious mode or a later version of Henrik Ibsen. A masterful storyteller who presents to us the drama of ordinary domestic life about characters we ultimately come to like and care about."
Heather's Hot Takes: "…one of those rare films that isn't afraid to rip your heart out. It does not fear to dive into the ugliness of divorce and the harsh realities of two people falling out of love. This raw authenticity of watching the two protagonists go through the rollercoaster of grief, rage, and acceptance is what makes A Marriage Story so remarkable and so heart breaking."
I Draw On My Wall: "…it's both exciting and unnerving to watch them evolve and, in some cases, devolve. It's a reminder that not everything lasts, actually that very little lasts, and after watching the film you may think it a miracle that anything ever does last, even for just a short amount of time."
Isabelle Reviews Movies: "…is incredibly well-acted. This is an incredibly personal and raw story from Baumbach who gives it his all for this film, and that is what makes it one of the best films of the year."
Jade / The U (5/5): "…paints an authentic and emotionally raw portrait of love lost, with heartfelt honesty and compassion."
Jordan and Eddie (4.5/5): "Hilarious, heart-breaking and heart-felt, Marriage Story is one of the finest film's yet made about divorce and relationship breakdowns, masterfully brought to life by Baumbach and his lead performers."
Little Movie Reviews / Sarah (Grade: A): "All the elements involved perfectly come together to make a genius work like this. And though some may look at this film and see nothing but an array of sloppy crying and yelling, which I can understand, I can't rate Marriage Story anything short of an absolute knockout."
Mark Walker / MARKED MOVIES: "…a work of brilliance. Few filmmakers can structure or capture such authenticity in their storytelling as Baumbach does here. Relationship break-ups are never easy viewing but this is among the most heartbreaking and sensitively handled. It's a very tender and hugely affecting film where both Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson soar."
Mesh The Movie Freak: "At its core, it's a film about life and being a human. Because being human, like a marriage, itself is complex. And when it comes to divorce, as quoted in the film, "It's not as simple as not being in love anymore"."
Mixed Cuentos: "I highly recommend you to see it with your own eyes and feel it through your own arteries. It is cheaper than therapy"
Netflix Original Movies Reviewed: "…a real gem of a film. Baumbach has hit a personal high here that I haven't seen since The Squid and the Whale and even surpasses that film. I also thought very highly of TMS and Frances Ha, but Marriage Story is just at another level."
The Not Left Handed Either Guy Film Guide: "…is an impressive film. It isn't in my top ten simply (and obviously) because there are films I've enjoyed a lot more this year but this is certainly one to admire."
Obsess Reviews: "I admire it for its humanist, empathetic look at a relationship gone sour, and its endless depths that I'm sure I will emotionally delve deeper into upon a rewatch."
Often Off Topic: "We're reaching the peak of Adam Driver season and if he doesn't take home an Oscar for this one I will RIOT. How an actor can express that much emotion is beyond me, some scenes were honestly difficult to watch because of it. It felt like I was intruding on something private."
Plain, Simple Tom Reviews (5/5): "A brilliant, believable and fascinating story about the devastating effect that divorce can have on a family, Marriage Story is excellently written, cleverly directed and edited, and both Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson knock it out of the park with their tremendous and genuine performances."
The Blog Complainer: "This is the type of movie where everyone is going to get something out of it because of how realistic it is."
The Jagged Word: "…well-acted, well-told, and excellently shot. The one thing it is not, is fulfilling."
The Reviews (3.5/4): "The disagreements and the lack of communication which slowly drove them apart eventually reveal their meanings in real and lasting ways, but never without Baumbach's textured, complex, and ultimately greatly empathetic approach, which contrasts itself with the clinical legal battles swirling around the couple, and remains fixated on the human core: the messy, contradictory, consuming, profoundly felt emotional center of the film whose encompassing nature gives it such moving power."
Write On Ejaliegh: "At times, the pace is quite slow and hypnotic. There is little frivolity in this movie. It is profoundly meaningful and the lead actors are multi-dimensional and credible."
Want to keep going? More Marriage Story Reviews.
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25+ Marriage Story Reviews – The Director Breaks Down Fight Scene
December 8, 2019 ~ Todd Russell	~ 1 Comment
More and more quality Netflix Original movies are being released. This year I now have three in my top 10 films of 2019, so apparently their strategy of throwing billions into producing great original content is working.
So, on Friday 12/6/2019 another good, recommended movie became available for streaming …
If you haven't seen it yet, then bookmark this post and come back because we're about to venture into SPOILER territory ….
…. you've been warned SPOILERS ahead ..
While I knocked off a star, my criticisms are very minimal in this film. I felt a few scenes were too long and there was some repetition between scenes. A little bit more tightening and this could have been 4.5 or 5 stars. It felt like it should have been, content-wise 90 minutes and yet it was 136 minutes. Netflix is clearly not as imposing as the Hollywood studios when it comes run time.
Or maybe this is just the new way of doing movies. Go ahead and just have these long scenes, even if each scene isn't presenting any new information or providing any new character info. Most of the scenes do give us new information, but there are other scenes that could have been shortened (the whole two separate Halloween trick or treating, for example).
Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta all have great supporting roles as divorce attorneys. Scarlett Johansson has minimal makeup and looks throughout this film like she's in a perpetual state of tears. Her eyes are often red, she looks down a lot and you can just feel her pain visually. Brilliant.
One of the most emotionally charged scenes I've seen in any 2019 movie comes from a fight between Adam Driver's character Charlie and his wife, Nicole played by Scar Jo. The director, Noah Bombach, describes how the scene was constructed over two days:
"They've lost their voices; they've lost a sense of who they are," the filmmaker says of this pivotal point. "They're trying to figure out what they believe anymore. And that's a dangerous place, I think, for a couple to find themselves." Charlie and Nicole rediscover their own voices — and perspectives — in this painstakingly choreographed sequence, which was shot over two days. It's a cruel, relentless duet of a scene — but ultimately offers relief. "It was the most difficult scene I've ever shot in a movie," Baumbach tells EW. "But also the most rewarding."
Marriage Story: Noah Baumbach breaks down Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson fight scene | EW.com
The scene in question is visceral. It's the horror equivalent emotionally of a gross out scene that you can't get over. Absolutely brilliant.
Scar Jo talks about her acting role in Marriage Story
Both interviews of Scar Jo and Adam Driver have them sharing their feelings about their complex characters.
Adam Driver on his role in Marriage Story
These are the roles that actors and actresses dream of having.
Reviews by Others
Let's see, so far, what other moviegoers think of Marriage Story.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES / Jay: "…is an insightful and well-aimed gut punch. It hit me right in the feels. But even Sean, who comes from a cozy nuclear family and is married to the most amazing woman on earth, even Sean was stirred up. Love is easy. Marriage is hard. Divorce is a goddamned hole in the heart."
David A. Lynch: "What Johansson does here is many times as monumental as any of Black Widows's heroic acts. She's rarely been better. Driver – as the self-centered, vulnerable, determinedly jaunty husband for whom work in New York City never stops and being with their son, Henry, on the opposite coast is paramount – perhaps never has."
Embrace Your Geek: "I was surprised how much I loved this movie. I did not expect to love it this much, but the two lead actors are so great, and the film is so well created that you cannot help but love it."
Film Reviews by Matt Olech: " Noah Baumbach created a story that moves by its realism. It is one of the few, small films that have the luck to become a success. I can't find any elements that I wouldn't like in it. Beautiful subtle colours, script, brilliant acting performances creates one of my favourite film of the year."
Hector Valvede (Grade: A): "Beset in mercilessly real melancholy, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson wring two of the most gutting performances of 2019"
High Contrast: "…this film is so well written, shot, and produced that you will feel like you have personal experience by the end. You feel like you are a part of this couple's journey. You will want them to succeed. You will want them to be happy. And you will want them to work it out."
Jarrad Jzyk (9/10): "Overall Marriage Story punched me right in the gut and I loved it. It really is a modern day Kramer vs Kramer with a lot more humor and in my opinion has more heart. It's one of the best written and directed films of the year and has two Oscar worthy Tour de Force performances in Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson."
Jordan Woodson's Reviews: "…is raw and emotional with stellar writing, directing and acting across the board. It'll leave you in absolute tears so yes, make sure you have some tissues near you when you stream this on Netflix (you should definitely watch it as long as you're in the right headspace)."
Laurie Stone: "I didn't enjoy the film, and I don't think it's good. It felt false from beginning to end and like a piece of self-congratulation on the part of the director/writer for giving the female character her due. He doesn't. Her position is witless and makes no sense within the terms of the breakup and as a result makes everything she says about feeling pushed around and used sound like a sudden tantrum, a spurt of #MeToo juice directed at her husband, who hasn't really done anything."
Let's Talk About Movies (3.5/5): "Baumbach's humane and often hilarious film gets under your skin from the very first moment. Every scene registers poignantly, from an opening sequence where Charlie and Nicole make lists about why they love each other, to a heartbreaking moment where they do the exact opposite somewhere in the middle. Baumbach sits back and lets us watch. His film hits hard. It's raw, beautiful, devastating, and one of the best movies of the year."
Movie Man Jackson (Grade: A-): "The buzz is legit surrounding Marriage Story. It's a moving love story told through the lens of a divorce; an epic covered in basic wrapping paper. I've never divorced, much less married. However, I feel like I've been in the heat of one after viewing."
Movie Meister Reviews / Lee (5/5): " Everything about Marriage Story is just great, from the perfect framing to the incredible performances to a script that's so meticulous I wouldn't be stunned to learn that it included when to breathe. It's the kind of film that just grabs you and pulls you in before you have a chance to complain, it's just generally wonderful in every way one could hope a dramedy about divorce would be."
Movie Nation / rogerinorlando (2.5/4): ""Marriage Story" is almost funny enough and touching just often enough to endorse. It's good, but it's no "Scenes from a Marriage" or "Husbands and Wives" or hell, "Company," for that matter. It's just Netflixable."
Movies Unchained: "Baumbach has made one of the year's most extraordinary films, exploring the depths of the human condition with humour and pathos, telling an earnest story about people dealing with change, and all the challenges that life tends to throw at us, sometimes unexpectedly."
mumofthreedevils: " The film is stunning. Beautifully acted by all throughout, with stand out performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson. It is funny, sombre, heart wrenching, gut punching, I could go on and on."
Neil Baker (5/5): "…at the centre of this beautifully directed drama, are Johansson and Driver. Both embracing their characters and the complexity of their emotional journey with masterful performances. While being surrounded by a supporting cast who in turn add layers of humour, anxiety, fear and love to the journey."
PopCult: "I cannot emphasize how damn good Scarlett Johanssen and Adam Driver are in this film. Their performances are so genuine and honest at every turn. Johanssen hasn't been this good in years, mainly because she's been doing so much big-budget special effect heavy work rather than character-centered pieces."
Reviewsien: "Both Johansson and Driver are excellent in their roles. It's interesting to see how good they can both be when they aren't playing comic book characters or space fantasy roles. The film is actually done so well it's emotionally hard to watch."
RsKViews: "…gives a beautiful experience,an experience that shouldn't be neglected so do watch this one."
Seeing Things Secondhand: "…is not a great movie about feelings. It is a very successful legal drama, so much so that I think its best moment in performance and in writing is in a line reading Adam Driver has while he's talking to Alan Alda."
The Buzzed Beat (7/10): "Is it going to win any awards? Nah but it's a solid movie to watch with your significant other so she's scared shitless to go through a divorce. Oh and that Kylo Ren guy is in it."
The World of Celebrity (5/5): " is just staggering. It will emotionally resonate with you for hours after you've seen it. It is heartbreaking watching a couple going from being loving and supportive to ugly, petty and downright nasty, even though they always intended for the process to be amicable."
Through The Movie Lens: "It was a shock to those familiar with the director's work who shies away from all that is mainstream and commercial, basically everything that Netflix represents. But hey, if Scorsese is doing it, why shouldn't everyone else?"
Trailer Trashed: "Not my usual brand of entertainment at all. But really so pleased I gave it a shot. Marriage story has a huge seal of approval from me, I urge you all to at east give it a fair shot."
When The Credits Roll: "…the best divorce movie I think I've seen. It's funny, brutally emotional, and it's all performed, written, and directed so extremely well that it feels like I'm watching a home video of two people I know when Nicole and Charlie are on screen together. It hurts, it amuses, it invokes an array of feelings, but more so than that it's frustratingly good that you just want to be wrapped up in its embrace for another two hours, even with everything it puts you through."
Zimm Score Movie Guide: "I will say up front is the best film of the year, and perhaps the best dramedy I've seen to date. While in the past I've mentioned how filmmakers seem challenged to seamlessly blend comedy and drama together, Baumbach took up this challenge and passed with flying colors."
What did you think of Marriage Story? Discuss below.
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