Marriage Story (2019)

Baumbach delivers what just might be his masterpiece with this bitterly funny divorce drama. It is even-handed and empathetic, with devastating cumulative power powered by knockout performances.

Marriage Story is funny, moving and heart-breaking, and just may be a modern masterpiece. It features exceptional performances from Driver and Johansson and does not take sides in the divorce.

Baumbach's divorce drama is a bruising tour de force and easily the wisest film of his career. It features powerhouse performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, climaxing in a ferocious verbal showdown.

The critic praises the film's balanced and empathetic portrayal of divorce, highlighting the standout performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson along with its unexpected humor that lightens the emotional weight.

Baumbach applies his expertise in human discomfort to the emotional and legal quagmire of divorce in a deeply thoughtful, empathetic film. It features nuanced performances from Driver and Johansson, especially in a gut-wrenching fight scene.

Baumbach delivers a superb, generous portrait of a marriage's death throes that is sweet, sad and funny, with terrific performances from Johansson and Driver.

Baumbach's film is brisk, witty and revels in a mischievous sense of fun while offering a harrowing view of spousal difference. It features strong performances, especially from Scarlett Johansson, and ends with a sense of acceptance.

The critic calls it a sublime, heart-breaking and balanced divorce drama with faultless lead performances that surpass even Kramer vs. Kramer, praising its emotional depth and ensemble cast.

Baumbach’s most mature and generous work peels open a marriage with scenes that are funny, painful, sad and joyous; it is also his most emotional film.

The critic describes the film as expert and deeply felt with strong performances and humor, but notes it feels somewhat biased toward the male lead and finds the climactic song sequence awkward.

Baumbach offers a close-up portrait of a dissolving relationship as a deteriorating combat zone, with outstanding stripped-raw performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. It is a very particular film set for awards attention.

The critic notes that the film toys with the audience as one couple dissolves, blending near-farce and emotional brutality in pure Baumbach style. It singles out the devastating performances and the frighteningly first-world depiction of divorce proceedings for praise and complaint alike.

The critic notes stretches of brilliance, particularly the prologue and small resonant moments, but finds the film undercut by the director's sour self-pity, with the story centering more on the husband's perspective.

The critic calls it an emotionally lacerating experience and a nearly flawless elegy for a beautifully flawed couple, a broken-family classic. The masterful acting by Driver and Johansson is singled out as an acting master class.

Baumbach addresses the fatal flaws in the relationship with painful clarity in this reflective and occasionally devastating drama. The film veers from the piquantly funny to the downright brutal, closing on a hopeful note despite its sadness.

The critic calls it Baumbach's best yet, a tough but funny and tender work about good people at their worst during divorce. It highlights the sensational, deeply alive performances from the leads.

The critic describes the film as a tender and stinging tale of divorce that is funny and sad in equal measure, weaving a plot out of the messy collapse of a shared reality while making music out of disharmony. The performances of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are singled out for their self-conscious uncoupling in this emotionally resonant story.

A funny, fine-grained screwball take on Kramer vs. Kramer that mines specific details of divorce and bicoastal life for comedy and insight.

Baumbach delivers his best film yet, a cathartic and empathetic portrait of marital collapse filled with humor, heartbreak, and humanity. Outstanding performances from Driver and Johansson anchor the wrenching yet generous story of survival and lingering love.

The critic calls the film excellent and emotionally overwhelming, noting that it shows divorce as a collision of love and hate through nuanced performances rather than broad melodrama.

Baumbach delivers his most mature effort yet, a funny and poignant meditation on divorce featuring career-defining work from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson.

The heartfelt drama showcases career-best work from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple navigating divorce. Baumbach crafts a character study that finds both humor and pain in the dissolution of a marriage.

The critic lauds the refusal to create heroes or villains, emphasizing the even portrayal of the couple's lingering tenderness and the bittersweet quality of their separation.

The critic praises the film's focus on love's power to make people mean and its even-handed structure, highlighting Driver's internalized performance and the writing's tonal balance.

The review highlights the messy realities of divorce and custody battles through strong performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. It praises the film's balance of humor, emotional depth, and light touch despite heavy themes.

Powerful central performances cannot disguise a certain staleness and predictability in this divorce narrative. It benefits from faultless acting and keeps the audience on both sides' perspectives.

The film excels at showing conflicted emotions where old love underlies fresh acrimony but feels stagy in its big arguments and overly reliant on prior divorce films. Johansson delivers the stronger lead performance while the story lacks fresh ideas.

Pete Hammond hails the film as a masterpiece and a smart, moving love story about divorce. He singles out the no-villains approach, the depth of the lead performances by Driver and Johansson, and the strong ensemble of lawyers.

The review finds the film honest about divorce drawn from personal experience but criticizes its self-conscious excess and lack of messiness despite strong lead performances.

The review praises Baumbach for continuing his streak of humane, heartbreaking films with this powerful and poignant tale of a couple's breakup. It highlights the film's balanced empathy toward both spouses and their son, along with the incisive writing and strong ensemble performances.