Marriage Story (2019)

In the tradition of 'Kramer vs. Kramer', 'Marriage Story' is about a divorce and child custody dispute that starts relatively amicably and then gets considerably less so before it is ultimately resolved. This has been a good year for ensemble casts and here is no exception, including strong performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a Hollywood turned New York stage star and her director husband.  Laura Dern won a best supporting actress Oscar, but you also have Merritt Weaver, Julie Hagerty, Wallace Shawn, Ray Liotta and Alan Alda putting in great work, the latter at 84 years of age and with Parkinson's disease. Strong film making all around, there is some real emotional stuff, and some really funny stuff, the sequence with Martha Kelly as the court appointed home life observer is probably the most awkwardly funny of the year. Excellent writing and directing by Noah Baumbach and I rather liked Randy Newman's understated score. ****