Marriage
Story shows the coming apart of marriage between two nice people who are temporarily
turned against their own nature. It’s a story told and acted with compassion. It
isn’t a bleak film about divorce, but it is an accurate view of what divorce
includes…..pain, humor, hurt, a mess of emotions and every now and then incredible
and largely unnoticed gallantry. In particular, pay attention to the performances and
brilliantly written work of Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta as the lawyers.
Plot
Charlie
Barber is a successful theater director in New York City. His theater company
is currently producing a play that stars his wife Nicole, a former teen film
actress. The couple is experiencing marital troubles and sees a mediator, who
suggests they each write down what they like about one another, but Nicole is
too embarrassed to read hers aloud and they decide to forgo the counseling.
Nicole
is offered a starring role in a television pilot in Los Angeles, and she
decides to leave the theater company and temporarily live with her mother in
West Hollywood, taking the couple's young son Henry with her. Charlie elects to
remain in New York, as the play is in the process of moving to Broadway.
Despite the couple agreeing to split amicably and forgo lawyers, Nicole hires
family lawyer Nora. Nicole tells Nora the full story of her relationship with
Charlie and how she gradually felt neglected by him and how he rejects her
ideas and desires. Nicole also reveals that she thinks Charlie slept with the
stage manager of the theater company. When Charlie flies out to Los Angeles to
visit his family, Nicole serves him divorce papers. Charlie meets with Jay
Marotta, a brash and expensive lawyer who urges Charlie to fight dirty, but
Charlie returns to New York without hiring him. He receives a call from Nora
who urges him to get a lawyer soon or risk losing custody of Henry. Charlie
returns to Los Angeles and hires Bert Spitz, a retired family lawyer who favors
a civil and conciliatory approach.
On
Bert's counsel, Charlie rents an apartment in Los Angeles to be closer to his
family and strengthen his custody case. Charlie wishes to avoid going to court,
so Bert arranges a meeting with Nora and Nicole. Nora argues that Charlie
refused to respect Nicole's wishes to move back to Los Angeles and that Henry
would prefer to stay with his mother rather than fly back and forth between
coasts. Bert privately advises Charlie to drop his New York residency
altogether, but a frustrated Charlie refuses and decides to fire him.
Charlie
wins a MacArthur Fellowship grant and uses the first payout to hire Jay on
retainer. The case moves to court, where Nora and Jay argue aggressively on
behalf of their clients and attempt to paint the other party in a negative
light. Nora highlights Charlie's past infidelity and emotional distance, while
Jay exaggerates Nicole's drinking habits as alcoholism and threatens criminal
action for hacking into Charlie's emails. Meanwhile, Charlie and Nicole remain
friendly out of court and share time with Henry, who is increasingly annoyed
with the back and forth.
Disillusioned
with the legal process, the couple decides to meet in private away from the
lawyers. A friendly discussion in Charlie's apartment devolves into a bitter
argument; Nicole claims he has now fully merged with his own selfishness, and
Charlie punches a hole in a wall and says he wishes she would die. He then
breaks down in shame and apologizes; Nicole comforts him. An appointed expert
evaluator monitors a night in with Charlie and Henry with Charlie accidentally
cutting himself. Soon after, the couple agrees to relax their demands and reach
an equal agreement to finalize the divorce, although Nora negotiates slightly
better terms for Nicole.
A
year later, Charlie's play has a successful Broadway run, while Nicole has a
new boyfriend and is nominated for an Emmy Award for directing an episode of
her show. Charlie informs Nicole that he has taken a one-year residency at UCLA
and will be living in Los Angeles full-time to be closer to Henry. Later, he
discovers Henry reading Nicole's list of things she likes about Charlie she
wrote down during counseling. Henry asks Charlie to read it aloud to him, and
Charlie does so, becoming emotional as Nicole watches from afar. That evening,
after attending a Halloween party together, Nicole offers to let Charlie take
Henry home even though it is her night with him. As Charlie walks out to his car
carrying a sleeping Henry, Nicole stops Charlie to tie his shoe for him. He
thanks her, and they part.