Lunchtime Poll: "Marriage Story" custody battles
Friday, December 13, 2019 at 1:00PM
Bear with us through today's lunchtime poll which is NOT about whose side Marriage Story takes (the hot takes are abundant online and it's exhausting) but about which side you'd take --not Nicole's or Charlies -- this Q takes a second to get your head around but it's fun and totally worth asking for those of us who live for the movies:
If you had to divorce Marriage Story, what part of the movie would you want custody of ?
We couldn't help but ask Team Experience this question too so there answers are after the jump to get your started...
EUROCHEESE: I would keep the performances but also make sure Baumbach throws in L.A. for free, since he hates it and I love it.
CLAUDIO: Do I have to pick just one? I can’t think of losing Merritt Wever’s rhapsodies of awkwardness or the simple grace of a gate closing at night. That said, if I had to choose a single aspect of the film to keep, it would have to be the big fight scene, which made me relive some of the worst parts of my life. It wrecked me and then it offered the slightest hint of catharsis on the horizon. No matter its instantaneous memefication, I can’t deny how much it meant to me.
MURTADA: Alan Alda because he’s so lovely and I want a more comedic and warmer in tone sequel about his character’s adventures trying to find his lost glasses.
PAOLO: Screw it, I want half of the genius grant. I wanna eat something else other than TV dinners tonight.
CAMILA: The Sondheim bits and all of Laura Dern (can she defend me pro bono in this case?
KYNDALL: Alan Alda telling that three-part joke while Adam Driver tries not to cry.
CHRIS: The chaos of Merritt Weaver and Julie Hagerty's diametrically opposed approaches to conflict resolution.
SPENCER: It’s a toss up between Cassie’s pecan pie she doesn’t know if she made or Bert’s cat that you shouldn’t expect much out of.
NATHANIEL: Divorcing Marriage Story woud be too painful because it's awesome from start to finish. If I were writing that letter at the beginning of the movie about what I love about it I would need a whole notepad.
DAN: I would want custody of the surprising sexual chemistry between Ray Liotta and Laura Dern's lawyer characters. It's all over their body language and tone of voice when they talk to each other, but especially in how she takes off her jacket when he starts in in court. Oh, it is ON, and I can't want to see them duke it out in a more intimate setting.
GINNY: I would want custody of Adam Driver lifting Julie Haggerty over his shoulder like a firefighter. You know, for science...
Reader Comments (30)
I'm with Chris.
Oh Lordy, those two went full on Scorpio in that scene...both lucky to be alive.
I want everything but the kid. Someone else can have the kid. That kid is not worth fighting over.
I want Scarlett and Laura's first scene together, with full custody of Nicole's monologue and Nora's shoes
Nicole's career.
I want the evaluation scene and the box cutter. That is amazing cringe comedy.
I’ll take Martha Kelly!
One of the surprising things about Marriage Story was that it was really Custody Story. I guess it was sold as an heir to Kramer vs. Kramer so I should've expected that. And, as in KVK, child custody is an interesting proxy for a lot of relationship depth/detail/dysfunction.
But if I had one critique about Marriage Story (I adored it) it would be wanting more commentary on the death of a romance, versus seeing *everything* through the lens of parental logistics. You do get some thoughts on artistry/career, too.
It's a rare movie where flashbacks might've actually helped. I kind of wanted to see those two in love.
Martha Kelly and her Cameo of the Year!
My sentiments, Corey.
I hated that kid.
Corey-
Totally agree with you on that front. lol.. Give me a nice cat any day of a kid haha.
Corey: Yeah, that was kind of most of my problem with the movie. I'd say its on the better end of okay (B-), but it didn't create a resonant feeling for why either of them would actively fight for this kid. But there's also the song, and the letter reading, that tries to paint this obvious bad match marriage of passive aggressive artists ending is some kind of tragedy. (Ha. No!) Then there's that, seemingly, Charlie on the ground, "bandaging" himself with paper towels was seemingly Baumbach's last word on the character slicing his arm open. (Hospital? Anyone?) And that the ending scenes don't really work if you want to assume this is kind of like Taxi Driver and he actually died and these scenes are just his fantasy. Yeah...why is this getting Original Screenplay hype?
The big fight. I know some people on Twitter are already mocking it as a mere acting exercise, but it killed me.
I also love the counselor, the social worker, the beef between Liotta and Dern and ALAN ALDA.
I really can't say anything about the Being Alive sequence because I entered a sort of orgasmic state of mind and it's all blurry.
I liked the argument scene when I saw it in theaters, but when I saw it on Twitter again it just feels like a “THIS IS SERIOUS ACTING” moment now.
I want weekdays with the Sondheim scenes and weekend with the mother of Jesus monologue.
No, no, no, I want to change my answer!
I want the custody of Scarlett's gif dancing with her company.
I hated the film but I loved every single second with Julie Hagerty
Divorce that bratty kid.
Peggy, you want the whole movie for yourself! Please share
The ridiculous plot point of Charlie playing with a pocket knife. Retracted or not, it's dangerous for mature adults to be fooling around with any sharp objects - dumb.
Definitely Adam Driver singing "Being Alive" from Company. Serious nut here for Sondheim, and Adam's character suddenly walking to the mike and singing that song (one of the Sondheim's best) was just magical to me.
Divorce the title, should be called "The Divorce Story."
Those opening monologues over montage with Randy Newman’s lovely score playing made me burst into tears. I love it so much.
rrrich7 : could not agree with you more. Why I didn"t love Marriage Story as much ad everyone else on this site, It is definitely my favorite scene of the year.
"That kid is not worth fighting over." THANK YOU. That kid suuuuuuucks
I also loved the ending, the shoelace thing. It's simple, it's warm, it's a great closure.
Stop feeding his ego, Peg!
Can I say what I don't want custody of?? Those two musical numbers. Felt like weird attachments to the story that should have been edited out. It was painful to hear Adam Driver sing Sondheim.
Well the kid wasn't great, lol.
If you're reading Twitter that's going off on that scene...
Those people should just binge on Netflix. If you can't get behind that scene, you're not in a position to give an opinion.
No, really.
To answer tho...at the end (won't spoil), when Charlie comes to the house. What we see him come into is unnecessarily sad and it's an ugly choice as a director, and as a writer. The Dern character is there to cause trouble by not caring about anything outside of winning, and that includes fighting for women..and so her last scene, bleeding into that, is quite awful, and in bad taste. Also (closest thing to a spoiler here), it's the one time in the film you can say Baumbach picks a side. The rest of the way it just unfolds, and you side with who you side with because that's the truth in this story. But the ending changes that.
All except the letter...Adam Driver needs to win two Oscars, minimum.