Episode 161. Marriage Story (2019)

On this episode of B&R at the Movies Podcast Berry and Robin watch and discus the 2019 film Marriage Story. This drama, romantic, comedy is written and directed by Noah Baumbach and stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Wallace Shawn, Matthew Maher, Julie Hagerty, Laura Dern, Merritt Wever, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta. This film looks at the relationship of a marriage that is breaking up while staying strong together. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:20

And I'm Robin.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

All right. So this week was your choice of film. Yes. So I'll let you go and take us away on this one.

SPEAKER_04 0:26

I'm so excited about this.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

So we're going to watch Marriage Story.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 0:31

Um, and it's on Netflix because it was made for Netflix.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 0:36

Um, and it was from 2019. Um, I chose it because I did find I mean, I knew you liked Adam Driver. But when I saw Adam Driver in this, uh my whole thing was like, oh man, he can act.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

Yeah. So you know, he's main character, um, the range that he does with the acting, it's like, okay. All right. I gotcha. Um, it was quite popular. Um, it was uh nominated for quite a few Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, but it only won for Best Supporting Actress, which was Laura Dern. So it's Adam Driver and then uh Scarlett Johansson, okay, the main characters, but Lauren Dern uh was a supporting actress and she won award.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Gotcha. So okay, very cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Uh so yeah, so it has been recognized for a lot of other places by looked that up. Uh so oh no, I already forgot the director's name.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Mark Bomb Bombach. No, it's uh uh Noah.

SPEAKER_04 1:40

Noah, Noah, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Oh, you're good.

SPEAKER_04 1:43

Noah Noah Baumbach. Uh so he is a writer and the director.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:47

I have seen or tried to see some of his other films, wasn't a big fan. But that didn't make any difference when I saw this. I didn't even think about who was the director when I first saw it, um, because I really liked it. Um but uh I think I like this one because it is actually based off of his story with his wife. Oh, really? An ex-wife. Okay. Um and um and what they went through.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Interesting. Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

And his ex-wife, I haven't written down somewhere. We don't need to name her.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

That's okay.

SPEAKER_04 2:25

But um he wrote it and then he had her when when she first saw the film, uh, she really liked it. She wasn't offended by it. It was very much like kind of straight down the you know, very much their story. Nice, but she was okay with it, so I thought, oh, cool. Oh, that's that's definitely good. Yeah, I love that. I love that. But um, I think that's why I kind of like this because I kind of feel the human touch. And I think it's very realistic about marriages and when they're you know going through rough times and what's happening and blah blah blah. So okay. Um, but that's and so those are my reasons why I chose it. But I think uh you I know you like Adam Driver, and I think you really like him in this. I think you really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Yeah, I mean I've I've seen him in a few things. It's he kind of the stuff is I've seen uh is kind of been more toward on the comedy side. Um he does do like a serious moments kind of a little bit, but more it definitely more comedy. Um so yeah, so it'd be nice to see uh a little bit more of a range and like you said, like kind of structure a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 3:32

This is full drama.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_04 3:35

Um, but um I think it's I think it's just really well made, and I think I think the cinematography you're gonna get into that. Some of the scenes that they did and how they kind of staged them and stuff. It's very interesting. So uh there's a lot to this. Um Alan Alda is also in it. Oh yeah. He's a he's a supporting character.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 3:56

Um and other people too that you will recognize.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:59

But um, but yeah, it was it was really um very popular. Oh, and this was the I don't know if it was the first Netflix movie that was nominated for Best Picture.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Really? Yeah. Interesting.

SPEAKER_04 4:17

I'm gonna say or you know, a a film that was streaming, you know, was never in the theater. But but they did have it in selective theaters, I think it was after the Academy Awards, uh, in some places, but not too many.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

So it used to be that in order to be nominated, you had to have a run in the theaters for a specific amount, and I can't remember what it what it used to be.

SPEAKER_04 4:40

Oh, maybe that's what was happening.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

But I don't I don't know if that's still if that's still the case.

SPEAKER_04 4:45

Yeah, I think after this, then Netflix kind of had some street cred.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

There you go.

SPEAKER_04 4:51

And um people were like, what's happening on Netflix? So um anyway, but I think this is an excellent movie. Okay. Um it's you know, it's an emotional movie. I for me it was. It could it kind of hits people in different ways depending on if you can identify with what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Right. And that's yeah, that's what I was thinking, uh, depending on what your personal situations have been, on how you're gonna take it. Yeah. No, I think, yeah, I think I mean I definitely think that I mean struggles in relationships and stuff like that is is pretty universal. So it's yeah, yeah. So I think it it's definitely stuff that a lot of people will be able to connect with.

SPEAKER_04 5:29

Yeah, yeah. I I I think so. So um anyway, I but I I am anxious for you to see it, and I really wanted to hear what you think about, especially Adam Driver.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Okay, but the whole film, like you know, what you think as a complete package, kind of yeah, absolutely. All right, sounds good. All right, so we'll go ahead and dive into this one. Yes, all right. Well, we are gonna go ahead and watch Marriage Story, and then we will come back a little bit to talk about it. Okay, all right, we will be back in a little while. All right, everybody, welcome back. We just got done watching Marriage Story on since this was my first time watching it, then I get to take us away on this one.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

Yeah, it's always hard to be the first one.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

It's always hard, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

But go ahead, do it.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

So I'm I didn't I didn't mind the film. Um it was not my favorite. I could defin I could say that.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Um, I did I did like a lot of the performances where they were uh one take or one shot and they're moving and they're going throughout, and there's a lot of information coming. I thought everybody did a really, really good job. Made it feel more like a play kind of during that time. And um that makes more that makes sense with Adam Driver's background coming from Juilliard, where it's like, yeah, because he's used to he was used to being uh in in plays. So I get um I get that. Um I thought it was very interesting. Um, I don't know if this was um if I'm just perceiving it this way or if it actually was this way. At the very beginning of the film, it was um a lot more handheld, yes, kind of grainy, um almost like a almost like um uh like a 70s kind of look to the film, which wasn't uh I don't know if that was just the way I was like I said, I don't know if there's the way I was perceiving it. And then as it moved through, it was a lot more stationary, yeah, quick cuts.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Um it was there was a shot with um Scar Johansson in the lawyer's office where she's walking to the bathroom in the back, and then she comes back, it's a cut to another shot, and then it cuts back to her. And it was interesting that so the camera angle didn't move, so it's still the same spot from that, but she was temporarily out of focus as she came and sat down.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

And I'm like, it was it was kind of odd, and it was weird, and I didn't I didn't really understand what was the the meaning behind that. I didn't know it was because I know you you because they can use a lot of different different cuts and tricks and stuff to be able to convey feelings and emotions and stuff through the through the l through the way it's shot. And I was like, I don't I didn't really understand that shot. It didn't really cause because for me it's like when you when you intentionally have somebody out of focus, then you can you're trying to convey like an emotion or something with it where they're there but you can't really see them. Uh example that would have been like when he was reading to his son on the bed and Scarlett Johansson's in the background.

SPEAKER_03 8:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

You know it's her, right? But you don't see her sharp in focus, but you know it's her. And then same like when they're in the courtroom where it's like a tight shot on his face, right? And she's blurred in the background, and you know it's her. You don't have to see it's her. So using it like that, it's like it kind of conveys the distance and the separation part of it. And that's what I was saying for that one shot. I didn't understand the the meaning behind it, so it didn't it didn't really so it almost felt like an accident. Um, it almost felt like they cut too too late, and it was like supposed to be cut later, and then that wouldn't have been the case, but anyway, I don't know. So like I said, that was just a weird thing, and like he's been like you know, that's the stuff that yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

No, I knew there'd be a lot of things visually that you would like have opinions on. Yeah. Yeah. Because it is just that's just the way he directs. Right. I and I gotta say, this is probably only the second time I've seen it. Um and yeah, he's not he's not my favorite. I've tried like I said, I've tried watching some of his other films, and I was like, mm-mm. Okay. I there's just something kind of about the the pace.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

The pace is like really it seems like and it seems slow, yeah, but it seems like there every moment there's an extra beat. And it's like and I don't and the way with this film it I thought it was to convey more of the uncomfortableness with them, and like he goes to her new house and he's trying to fix the gate, and then it's like there it seems to be like it should have been cut like a second earlier, and then there's like an extra like silent beat afterwards.

SPEAKER_04 10:22

Yeah, yeah. So I mean I think it's all purposeful. I know, you know, that's just his style, that's for sure. Um I some of the scenes are really long, yeah, but I do like it that he moves the f this story forward and he it does go to black. It does go to black, right? And then I do know, oh, okay, now we're gonna be moving the story forward. I it's not like and and I know it's gonna like jump, and I kind of like that because that scene was kind of long to me.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

Right.

SPEAKER_04 10:56

And so I know, okay, now something different's gonna happen now because you know he's gonna jump it forward and we're gonna learn something new or something different, or the situation will be different. So I I I but yeah, some of the scenes are almost too long for me.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Yeah, yeah. They they tend to they were drawn out, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:16

Except except for the fight scene.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Well, that and it felt necessarily long, like it like because they're getting everything out, you know, and it's like and then uh there's so just uh so a little bit of yeah, in the beginning the handheld was purposeful. Yep, it definitely felt that way.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

You know, that's just how they he wanted to do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 11:34

And in the fight scene, they did it all as one.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

And no, no, no breaks, and um then they they just kept repeating it, you know. You know, or or if someone messed up, then they'd start over.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_04 11:49

You know, and and it all nothing was improvised, it was all on the page.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

That's impressive. That I mean, because it's a it's a lot. It is a lot.

SPEAKER_04 11:58

So I mean, and you know, so I mean, you've got to give kudos to the main characters and the main actors for um taking on this project because I think it probably was slightly daunting at times.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Oh, yeah, I could imagine so.

SPEAKER_04 12:13

No, and and very, very emotional. Um when this was going on, Scarlett Johansson was going through to divorce.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Oh gosh, what timing?

SPEAKER_04 12:23

Um yeah, and uh Laura Dern's character that the is based on a famous attorney in in Los Angeles. Oh, really? And uh this attorney did Scarlett Johansson's divorce and he did and and did Noah Oh Noah's Yeah, the director's divorce also.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

Yeah, so I mean, yeah. That's wild.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

That's wild.

SPEAKER_04 12:50

The director did really consult with real attorneys to make sure that they get, you know, like when they're sitting down and trying to do mediation kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Right.

SPEAKER_04 12:58

Uh that they're getting the language right, that they're getting everything, you know, the way it should be.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Well, and that and that's always that you can always tell like when the intention to detail of that is stuff like that, where it's like there are some very specific things where it's like people can easily look up and say, like, no, that's not the way the law is when it's a law, that it's like, okay, this is how it's written, you know, and stuff like that. Right. So it it it's always nice that when uh a writer and a director that they'll actually take the time of like, no, we we're gonna get it right. We wanna make sure we're saying it right. Yeah. So I I appreciate that. Um okay, my I have an issue with time in this film.

SPEAKER_04 13:36

Okay. Okay. Talk about time.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

All right. So starting off, um, you start the film off, and it is in um I presuming late summer, fall time in New York.

SPEAKER_04 13:47

Oh, I didn't think about the season. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

So that well, that's that's about the time when I feel like it was happening, it was going on.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Um then, you know, they do the move to LA and everything, and then they have Halloween while he's in while he's in LA, and then they have the whole thing about like the costumes and all the things.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

And then all that happens. And then the movie goes forward, and it never it didn't there was no other other acknowledgement of time passing. Um there were but it felt like there were still jumps that were going forward, because then all of a sudden, oh, she has a house, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh, now they're you know, she's moving forward in her career, she's doing something else. And so you knew time is passing.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Um, but there's no markers of how much time is passing.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

No.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

And so we don't know if it's like if this isn't occurring in a month or how however long it's taking, and it's in LA, and so they're not gonna do like, oh, it's now snowing, and it's you know, it's winter time. Right. Then we get to the end of the film, and he's walking up to the house, and he walks in, and you see I see the bats that are in the window, and I'm thinking, okay, so they just had Halloween a little while ago. I'm like, so did they just leave the decorations up? Oh like they just haven't taken them down yet, and then all of a sudden there's the other guy, uh-huh and immediately I'm like, oh, that's her new boyfriend.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

And I was like, okay, and then you realize that, oh no, a whole year has passed.

SPEAKER_04 15:24

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

With no indication that that year has happened. You have to figure it out. And it's like, I like the not be help not holding my hand kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 15:34

Right. But did it jump? However, you need a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

I need a little bit, you know, you need a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 15:41

He's not like gonna put on the screen.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Right. Uh yeah, one year one year later, you know, or something like that. Right, exactly. Because it wasn't that's not what he was doing.

SPEAKER_03 15:49

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

And then like he goes and looks at the pictures, and then all of a sudden, all the photographs on the wall are none of them are with him in them anymore. Right. It's now all the new ones. Right. And it's like, yeah, that's another marking of passing the passing of time. Uh-huh. So I I understand his ways of showing you that the time marker had passed. I was still just upset already because I felt like you didn't know that the time had passed. And then because it wasn't like if he had like a dramatic haircut style.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

Yeah, the haircut never changed. I was kind of waiting for it, too. Just a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Just a little bit. I want it all of a sudden he comes in like he's got like a sh like not shaved head, but having a couple of things. Clean cut, clean covered. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Something dramatic. Something dramatic.

SPEAKER_04 16:34

Well, maybe the whole thing is that he isn't changing.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Right. Yeah, exactly. Maybe that maybe that's the meaning behind it.

SPEAKER_04 16:40

So they probably didn't want to do that. They wanted to say that he he really he's he's only but and by the end of the movie, he is only then changing.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:49

He's actually coming to Los Angeles. He's gonna stay for a while.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Right.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

You know, he's changing. But up until then, he didn't want to change.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Right.

SPEAKER_04 16:59

So yeah, I guess I guess could be that. Yeah, that's probably the same.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

So I had so I did have I did have that issue with this with the time on that where I'm like, like I said, I don't need to have my hand held, you know, the whole time, however, a little bit of indication of that, instead of like all of a sudden like you figure it out later, and then you're like, oh, okay, this is a whole year's past.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

But anyway, that's but how did you like Adam Driver?

SPEAKER_01 17:26

I thought he was really good. I liked a lot. I liked his um this the scenes that just feel like natural, just kind of interaction stuff. I I really like him when he does that kind of stuff. Um when they're coupling the the booster car in the back of the seat and like pinches his hand and stuff. And so it's like it all feels very natural. It feels like that's just him like being him, and they're just filming it, you know. And so I like that. Doesn't it? There's no feels like it's really effortless, um, which I really like about him.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

There were more laughs than I remember. Oh there was more silliness, like, oh, I didn't remember that. I remembered it being totally drama the whole way through. And it's like, no, there is some weird stuff, like with the mother and the sister and the serving him. And it was like, I totally didn't remember that at all. It's like that was that was really, and it was almost ridiculous, but then it was almost like truthful. Well, if you're if you're dealing with people that are you know actors or actresses or whatever, yeah, that's probably how they're gonna act, you know.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

It felt like it was like Mark's brother's kind of ridiculous. It's a little bit and I was just like, What are these people doing? What is going on here? And then it's like he picks it up, and then she's like, Oh, and then takes it from him and then and then hands it back to him.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

It's like you're served, you're served, and I was just like, Oh my god, it's like so Yeah, it was just it was just a little strange, but it was kind of funny, and I was like, Oh, I didn't really remember it being funny.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

I have I have this weird, I have this weird thing. So, okay, so he comes over to the house uh during that scene, right? It's not his house.

SPEAKER_04 19:10

No, it's his house.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

It's it's his her mother's house, right? He doesn't live at that house, it's not his house. Nothing in that house belongs to him.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

He's eaten out of the fridge. He just starts grabbing stuff and just pulls out like a chicken and just starts eating the chicken. And I'm like, Yeah, who said you could have that? You literally just got there.

SPEAKER_04 19:29

You know, he feels like this is this is his family, this is his family, this is even his mother. Like, you know. I can't I can't do that.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

I can't go to your house, I can't walk into your house. No, and even just like grab something out and just start eating it.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

And it's like But that's just that's just how comfortable he would he was feeling. Yeah. That this just felt like home to him, and all of a sudden it's it's you know for me.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

That's weird.

SPEAKER_04 19:52

It's like But some people are like that. I guess they totally are, but I guess that you know it's just part of his character.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Um I mean, yeah, and I'm just comparing it obviously just to me, I guess, but it's just like Yeah, you wouldn't do that. No, I I was like, I I would I have to ask permission for everything if I'm in somebody else's house.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

It's like it's like and I'm such a bad host, I forget to ask. It's like, oh, are you thirsty? You want some water or something? You know, because most people ask for it, you know. It's like unless they're just like dying parched.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

Right.

SPEAKER_04 20:23

Then they will, but you know, I forget to say, Hey, you want something? Yeah, it's just yeah, uh, but yeah, I I thought that was kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

And I thought, no, that's that's supposed to be showing us his character and I the way he is, and I get you know that he's comfortable with them, and then it's like all this stuff, and then like her mom comes in and they do the like, oh picking you up, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:46

So it was like you know, it was like his family.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Right, right. But yeah, I I don't know. I've that's then not just in this film, but just in general, I have issues with that. I'm like, I don't know. It's a spatial, it's a space thing. It's like you're inviting you're at somebody's house, it's not yours.

SPEAKER_04 21:03

You know, maybe it's it's supposed to show a little bit like, you know, where are his boundaries?

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 21:08

I have no idea where his boundaries are. You know, he's like and uh and that's something I think um um and but then you notice at the end, when I'm pretty sure that's his her mother's house that they went to, right? I couldn't I thought so I thought I'm thinking so because when he when he looks at the pictures and they're they're in the same place, but there's different pictures I thought it was in the upstairs.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Right.

SPEAKER_04 21:37

So then when he comes back at the end, he's got a lot of boundaries.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:43

It doesn't feel like home.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Right.

SPEAKER_04 21:45

He's not super relaxed.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Even when he c even when he came walking, I mean he was announcing himself as he was walking into the door.

SPEAKER_04 21:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

But yeah, it it yeah, it was definitely a different um a different vibe.

SPEAKER_04 21:57

And even so it's like no, he kind of Learned or things changed.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Yeah, well things change. Yeah. And like we were saying when he was looking at the photos, because he's a stranger in that house now.

SPEAKER_04 22:09

It's not it's it's not his family's house, it's his ex-wife's parents' house. Right. But yeah, um, yeah. But I don't know. I I guess but yeah, there was a lot of not holding your hand. Um, you know, and that's okay with me. The the jumping was a little bit, but like I was saying before, uh, because this one scene was so long, I was kind of glad for that black, you know, let's jump, let's do something else, let's go someplace else, let's show me show me something else. So um yeah, I I did kind of like that.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Um I thought the um the emotions and the and the arguments and the stuff like that, I always that felt that felt really real.

SPEAKER_04 22:53

I always they kind of they started normal, yeah, and it built very naturally into something. And then it built like too much. And then you're saying crap that you don't really, really mean, but you're it's coming out of your mouth and you're saying this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Right.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

And then suddenly you just feel horrible.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

And you can't take it back because then now it's out there. Yeah, and you didn't really mean it. Right.

SPEAKER_04 23:21

But you know, but but the the progress the build up into the feelings of of rage um I thought felt kind of natural because it took a while. Yeah, it's kind of a long scene, you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Right. And yeah, and it and it's and I like that that it's you know, it started off with okay, and then complete silence. Right. And because they didn't they you know Yeah, didn't know how to they didn't they didn't know how to begin.

SPEAKER_04 23:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Right. So um and I felt that even you know, with when before they were divorced, where it was the empty spaces um in conversation, the empty spaces like in in their apartment and stuff when they're together, and it's it's all the stuff that you're not saying, and it's all the stuff that is just left you know, and just going going by. And you you can like feel that weight like building, and it's like and you can feel and it's like in it, it's like, yeah, at some point it's gonna get too much.

SPEAKER_04 24:22

Yeah, and I think that's why some people really love this movie and some people don't.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

Because they've either been through this and yeah, this felt like so familiar, yeah, yeah, yeah. And other people, mm-mm, why would anyone like this? You know, because I don't get it. I'm you know, never gone through anything.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Well, don't know. I've never gone through it. No, um, I've never been naturally, I've never been married, never been divorced, right? But I have seen people go through it and I've been around them going through it. And I've seen the the easy ones and I've seen the very, very difficult ones. Um, and you know, you feel for you know, you feel for everybody going through it, yeah, because you don't want you don't wish this upon anybody to have to go through a divorce. But you some of them it's like, okay, this is definitely the best thing, you know, it's understandable. And then other times where it's like it's kind of more one-sided on the divorce, you know, kind of stuff. So it's um, I mean, with this one, it's like, you know, they they definitely felt like it felt like they were starting off from the mutual, like, yes, we shouldn't be together anymore. Yes, okay, yeah, you're gonna take this, I'm gonna take that. Okay, and it's like, and it felt like it was gonna be, you know, okay. It's like they're just gonna go through the process of going through a divorce. And then it kind of just gets muddier and messier, and then the lawyers and then everything, and then it's just it just gets really ugly. Yeah. But um, yeah, I I could definitely see why Laura Dean um got Laura Dern, yeah. Or Laura Dern, sorry, sorry, mispronunciation. Um, why why she was was she nominated or did she win?

SPEAKER_04 26:02

She won just supporting action.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Oh, she did win. Nice. Okay, that's awesome. Yeah, she did a great job, she did a great job. Um, I really like the scene in the in the courtroom with her and Ray Leota um kind of going back and forth at each other and stuff. It's kind of interesting at that time because it's lawyers talking about the other per the person they're representing as if they are that person.

SPEAKER_04 26:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

And it's such a weird thing of just like okay, but you only know this information because the person told you this. Uh-huh. And that's only from that one side of it. Yeah. So it's like it's such a it's such a weird. It's very weird.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

But uh, but yeah, but it is I think um it's mostly it's kind of truthful. I mean, in certain situations, yeah. It's it's pretty truthful as far as what really does happen with divorce or separation and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Right.

SPEAKER_04 26:59

Um, but yeah. I so I can't say I really like like the movie.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Okay. You see, I'm in the same boat. So all right, we're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_04 27:08

You know, but there's many elements of it, yes, I do like.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Right. Exactly. You know, 100%.

SPEAKER_04 27:13

So and I I think for me it's it it is the director's style that I just really can't wrap my arms around and say, hey, I really like this, the way this director well his choices.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

I don't I was thinking like maybe if I saw something else he had done and then kind of compare of like, is it more of material base that he's leaning that way, or was it, you know, because he's trying to convey something like that.

SPEAKER_04 27:40

Yeah, you should really try to watch some of his other work and see what you think. He's definitely got a certain style, so okay, yeah. Like most directors, they should. They should be very firm on their style of how they like to direct, you know.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

It's like well, but I also enjoy like a director that it's like they do one thing really, really well, and then all of a sudden they're like, total switch gears, completely change it up. I'm gonna do something entirely different. You never saw it coming, and I'm gonna do that really, really well.

SPEAKER_04 28:07

Yeah, and so that would be nice.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

And so that's okay.

SPEAKER_04 28:10

That doesn't happen all the time.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

Not all the time. No, there's some that there's some that can do that.

SPEAKER_04 28:13

They kind of get they get they know they know they do this well, and they're gonna just kind of keep doing that style right well. Yeah, and that's fine. Hey, that's a choice too.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Right. That's what they're yeah, okay. You're known you're known for that. We have a choice to do that.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

We know if we see your name, that's kind of what we're going for. It's like yeah, it's yeah, it's always kind of it, it's always nice when you can see like um, you know, kind of a flex of like, okay, you know me for this, but you didn't know I do this as well.

SPEAKER_04 28:42

Right. So yeah. But um but yeah, yeah. So um yeah, I I didn't like like the movie. Um and and I don't know if I really liked Adam Driver as much as I thought I did. But but I like the opportunity to watch him in he he wasn't a supporting character, he was one of the main characters, right? So I gotta see a lot of his work and I kind of like that.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

I and I like I like him like when he can do his physicality on being just like it's natural, like grabbing the paper towels, you know, when he cut his arm and he's like, and he grabs that's like a whole like like half the half the role comes off with it. And it's like that that doesn't feel I mean it could have been on the page of like this is what you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_04 29:35

Yeah, but it it just I don't know, it felt a little like oh, this is happening, we're just gonna you know go with it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 29:42

And I and and I think he might be the type that can do that. He can go with it.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Right.

SPEAKER_04 29:46

He can he can he can do the best he can in a situation, whether it gets used or not, that's not his choice.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Yes, you know, yeah, exactly. Yeah, where he's like, I'm he's gonna and and who knows, maybe it was like I said, maybe it was exactly like that. That it's like, okay, you're gonna grab him, it's gonna roll out four, you know, 14 paper towels, and you're gonna try and put your foot up to try and stop them, you know, or whatever. You know, but yeah, it but it feels but he makes it even if it's not natural, he makes it feel natural. And he makes it feel like this is ha this is the moment that's happening in the moment, and there just happens to be the camera rolling cap capturing him doing it. Um so yeah, I I like it when he can do that kind of stuff. Um the punch on the wall when he when he breaks it. I understand that you know it's like the fight is building, building, building, um, but it seemed so out of character for him.

SPEAKER_04 30:42

Um it was like he was it okay. Here's here's the metaphor for me. Okay. He was kind of like breaking through to something different in himself that we hadn't seen. Maybe it was there, maybe it was shown other times, because we're not seeing it, you know, moment by moment, of course. Kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 31:02

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 31:02

Yeah, I think yeah, that was uh for me, that was like, yeah. Well, and even when he just yells at her, like his whole face changed. And he just really just yelled at me. I swear he was probably sweating too, you know. And it's like wow, I haven't seen that at all in this film yet. That was that the first time. Right. So that so that whole fight scene was um pretty eye-opening. And I don't know, maybe that's kind of shows that yes, when you're going to through a divorce, that you will have those moments where you're gonna do and say stuff you never did did or said before.

SPEAKER_02 31:45

Right.

SPEAKER_04 31:46

Uh you may never do it again.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:48

But uh it's possible that it can be so emotional it's gonna bring that out.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 31:54

Yeah. But yeah, and again with the the the fight I was reading about it. So when they did the fight scene, yeah, he was punching the wall and he actually he he's he's a strong guy. Oh yeah. So he actually punched through the wall and almost through the the because it's a you know, it's not a real apartment, you know. It's yeah, it's a set set. Right. He was punched through the next wall, you know, because they probably thought like, okay, you know, we're we're this is where it's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

We're not gonna make it super tough here so that way he doesn't hurt his hand. Yeah, yeah. You know, and I was like, Yeah, you know, so yeah. Kool-Aid man through the other wall, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:33

But yeah, so I mean, that was part of it, that's for sure. But yeah, but you know, you almost could go back and watch that fight scene again and realize that it was nothing was improvised. It was all in the timing, it was all on the page.

SPEAKER_03 32:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:49

And they were you know, because it almost felt like it was loose, like a real fight, like loose.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Right.

SPEAKER_04 32:57

But it wasn't, it was all choreographed, it was all but it was like, wow, that's just their performances coming out.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Well, and the way that the fight progresses of somebody's yelling at yelling and saying something, and the other person does one better and kind of one ups the other one, and then one up until, like you said, until you're now saying stuff that you actually don't actually believe and don't actually want, but you're just saying you're almost just saying just to just to win and try to hurt the other person, right? But um, yeah, it was it was definitely felt, you know, had that realism behind it, you know. And the punch definitely made it, you know, that little extra part of of realism as well.

SPEAKER_04 33:41

But but still it's like no.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Yeah, it I don't know, just for the necessary. Well, for and for his character, it I mean, because he like and like you said, maybe it was that he just got driven to that point. Maybe and he would just finally reach that reach that breaking point. Um but aside from like occasional swearing and you know, stuff like that, he wasn't really going off and like punching stuff and like breaking stuff and then all of a sudden he hits the wall. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 34:11

Right. Yeah. Because I think with other uh relationships, you know, a punch like that can turn into throwing things at each other or hitting each other. Right. You know, and that that I that would have totally turned me off. Yeah, if if it's if it just kept escalating.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Yeah, that punch was the was the exclamation mark of you know yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:34

But uh but yeah, yeah. So I'm glad it wasn't that because that yeah, that was it. I've seen that in films and stuff, and it's something I I can't watch this.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:43

Because then then is this is like a whole different thing. This is abuse, this is this isn't just fighting, this is right, you know, uh, you know, physically hurting each other. It's like no no no no no. Yeah. So it leads to it was not that.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Right.

SPEAKER_04 34:58

And I you know, and and part of it too is like kind of rooting for both of them.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:04

You know, you don't really want you know neither one you really I mean, you don't want either one to lose and you don't really want either one to win. You just kind of want it to be evened out somehow, which is like uh a marriage.

SPEAKER_01 35:15

Um, right, exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:18

But uh but you but you don't really, you know, you you you you want them both to win, you know.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

Yeah, you don't want to feel like either one of them's gonna like get up on the other.

SPEAKER_04 35:28

Yeah, you know, you you just you're really not that that is not the feeling. And I like that too, because sometimes in a divorce, you know, people take sides.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah, well, and and there's the natural sides of it where it's like, oh okay, she has her family. Okay, well, her family is gonna be on her side, you know. That's why she has the talk with her mom of like you can't like him anymore. You know, it's like you need to be with me, and then she's like, I've had my relationship with him independent from your marriage, you know, and it's like which is which is the absolute truth, right?

SPEAKER_04 36:00

Yeah, you know, it's you you really can't tell people how to feel about each other, right?

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Yeah, it's yeah, and it's and like you're saying, it's just it gets messy. And it does. Yeah, and yeah, I mean, I've I've felt it with you know friends and friends and family that have gone through divorces and stuff, and it's like, oh yeah, this person that you've communicated with and you know had a re built a relationship with before is now you can't have that anymore.

SPEAKER_04 36:27

And it's like uh and it does it does it it's it's kind of hard. It is.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

It really is.

SPEAKER_04 36:34

Yeah, unless you didn't really like the other person. Yeah, then it's easy. Yay, don't have to try to do that anymore.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Yay, right, right, right, right. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 36:42

Yeah, so because sometimes it is it's like oh I was only trying to be nice because you were with them.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

That was all yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 36:48

The only reason.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

So it's like now they're done. All right, let me tell you how I really felt.

SPEAKER_04 36:52

Yeah, I never I never try to put the people down, but it's just kind of a weight off my shoulders that I didn't have to put. It's like oh we don't know because I was kind of pretending for a long time.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

Yeah, you just like oh we don't have to do that anymore.

SPEAKER_04 37:03

Oh good, okay. Yeah. But uh yeah, but I mean but yeah, you know, people have their own relationships with you know everybody, you know, yeah, different people. So yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 37:15

Yeah, I get that. I get that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

I mean, but over overall, very I mean, it's a it's a well done movie.

SPEAKER_04 37:20

Um but really was it worth, you know, like best picture?

SPEAKER_01 37:25

I can't.

SPEAKER_04 37:25

I can't imagine who it was up.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

I didn't win, but I've had my my issues with best picture selections for so long.

SPEAKER_04 37:33

It does it doesn't yeah. That doesn't that's not really a good barometer for me.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

So it really it's really not anymore. Uh back in the day, back in especially like in the 90s, it really felt like oh, this pit this movie got put up for best picture. Oh, it's a really, really good film. And then you see it and you're like, yeah, that's a really good film. No wonder it got put up.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

And then now you see some of them and you're just like really uh that it's like okay, was it a terrible film? No, but it's like best pitch.

SPEAKER_04 38:03

And I don't know if it back now, we're gonna go into a different tangent here, but back back in the day, I don't know if there was the campaigning so much, you know, that goes on the political campaigning behind the film and getting it out there and people to vote for it kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Because I feel like back in the day it was more just off of box office success. I think so. Was a huge thing. And then later, and then it became the box office success, and then how it did on rentals and and purchase. And it was like those were your barometers of like right, okay, this is this is how this film is doing commercially, right? And then once it's it's done commercially, and then they're kind of looking at it closely and stuff, it's like, okay. Now it's like you don't have that barometer anymore to go off of, um, because it's we're in different markets. So I feel like they have to do the campaigning and stuff in order to get the film out there and get eyes on to get people to notice and pay attention to it.

SPEAKER_04 39:05

But you have to but you know, the people that are voting for this for for the Academy Award, they're in the business, right? You know, so it's not like just you know, Joe Schmoe who's just going to the theater or clicking on Netflix, you know. Right. It's it's because it's not the people's choice awards. It's not, it's not regular people who are deciding the Academy Awards. Right. We can we can wish all we want, but you know, it's not gonna be that way. Right. But uh, but yeah, so I think it is a little bit of a different world as far as what what people believe is to be, you know, the best picture or being nominated. Uh I I like it when I think mostly it's just you know to have a um a picture be uh recognized.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 39:51

I think that I mean, you know, winning I'm sure is lovely. I mean they go crazy. But um, you know, to have your picture be recognized in any small way, even. But uh that must be just absolutely wonderful. You've worked so hard on it and you've done so much, right? And you put your heart and soul in it, and and to know that people uh noticed it and a lot of people liked it. It's like exactly good about that. Right, exactly. But uh, but yeah, that's just my okay. Done done with that rant. I'm off the soapbox. That's all right. It's all right. But anyway, so um, I guess um is that about it?

SPEAKER_01 40:31

Yeah, I guess we can we can wrap this one up. Okay. All right, well, thank you guys for listening. Um, make sure you guys oh my gosh, my brain just jumped out of my head about what the title is.

SPEAKER_04 40:42

Marriage Story.

SPEAKER_01 40:43

Marriage Story. Wow. I don't know why my brain is my picture. Well, thank you guys for listening. Make sure you guys go check out Marriage Story on Netflix. It's available on Netflix because it's Netflix. That's right, it's a Netflix film. All right, thank you guys for listening. Until next time, I'm Barry. And I'm Robin. And we will talk to you guys later.