I don’t usually start these but I couldn’t find a thread for this…
Just watched this on Netflix (it is also playing at art theaters) and thought it was great. Adam Driver’s performance, in particular, is amazing, and Laura Dern has a great turn as a lovably mercenary divorce lawyer. Even though Baumbach seems to lose interest in ScarJo’s side of the story halfway through, he tells a richly textured story that seems to reveal general truths out of its very particularity.
With Roma and The Irishman, this makes three of the best movies I’ve seen in the last two years going direct to Netflix. I don’t know if it makes business sense for them to do it, but I hope they keep investing in these.
Everything I’ve heard about it makes it sound like a bit of an ordeal, Scenes From A Marriage-like. The message I take from this sub-genre of movies is: don’t get married. If you do, don’t have kids. If you do, don’t ever, ever get divorced.
Really looking forward to seeing it, though. But I think I’ll wait til after the holidays.
You’ll find that all divorce lawyers resemble talented character actors, and you should save money by going with the affable, pragmatic Alan Alda type.
I really liked the movie. It’s not perfect but it’s certainly way better than I expected. And God, the acting. Sooo good. This is probably my favorite ScarJo performance since Under the Skin, but the real gem is Adam Driver. It helps that he got the best part - his character does have more to work with than ScarJo’s character - but he’s simply brilliant in this movie. He’s good enough that I think it might be wise to set some space apart for a few prizes like the Golden Globe and possibly the Oscar.
I noticed that, too. She gets a fantastic long-take monologue toward the beginning, and then almost nothing for the rest of the movie.
The argument in the apartment was particularly riveting. It’s easy to forget between all their blockbuster roles, but Driver and ScarJo are damn fine at acting.
I’d say he’s basically in a different league than most other young actors. It seems like this generation could redefine the approach to acting in some way. It reminds me something as powerful as in the early 70s when you had De Niro and his contemporaries suddenly working in a completely new mode.
Wonderful movie. I appreciated how ‘normal’ everything felt, i.e. it not being overly cheesy or dramatic for the sake of it. Was also delighted to see Julie Haggerty and Alan Alda in this. Happy to see that Alda keeps on acting as long as his health allows him to. Ray Liotta and Laura Dern also delivered.
I’m glad that the movie started right away as the couple was already in the process of separating rather than have us go through all the stages of the relationship. Initially, I sided with Charles because it was Nicole who lawyered up first and thus kinda escalated things, but it also seems clear that something like this was probably also necessary since he seemed to be oblivious to the reality of the situation and Nicole’s needs.
ScarJo’s performance was great, and I keep being impressed by Driver’s versatility. I may not like every movie he’s in, like let’s say certain recent sci-fi blockbusters or The Dead Don’t Die, but that’s never on him.
I can’t believe you guys can watch a movie like this and not consider it absolute torture. When she goes to the lawyer? And then he goes to the lawyer, I was cringing and groaning, and I couldn’t watch anymore. It was too much, watching these nice people slowly throw all their money down the drain to these lawyers. And then it just keeps going and going, deeper and deeper. And yet, after Alan Alda, when he goes back to Ray Liotta, I have to admit, I was back in. I mean, I was at the same mental state as him at that point: Fuck it, your life is ruined anyway, might as well go all the way.
At this point, this feels like a Coen brothers movie in how miserable it’s making me.
On the bright side, I had to stop to take care of my son, and I really appreciated the time I spent with him. I mean, REALLY appreciated it. I figure maybe I’ll probably go through an ugly divorce of my own at some point in my life, and I’ll probably go through this kind of torture too, and he’s taken away from me. So I should really appreciate every moment now while things are good.
The end of this movie better be fucking worth it, for all this torture, I swear to god.
Ok, the last 30 minutes of the movie really do make everything worth it. That fight scene was epic. The dinner under supervision was so good. And the ending was fantastic. It almost makes you forget the torture of divorce playing out.
If by “epic” and “good” you mean EVEN MORE PAINFUL TO WATCH.
But at the end, after both parties have piled all their life savings in a heap and set it ablaze, there is a scene that’s sad and wistful and sweet, like balm on the burn. It’s a good payoff for people who can make it that far.
