History Film / MarriageStory

* IgnoredExpert: Bert is both a very skilled attorney and someone who knows full well how to avoid making the divorce worse than it needs to be for everyone, especially Henry. Sadly, Charlie and Nicole let their emotions get the better of them and much of wat he says goes unheeded.

** Charlie's whole career ''is'' based in New York, that's where Henry lived his whole life, and it's reasaonable that he'd assume they were based there. But Nicole is also right (even Charlie doesn't dispute it) that she's always wanted to return to LA, and Charlie let her think they would someday, only to always put her off.

* SympatheticPOV: Deliberately used: the first part of the movie is primarily seen from Nicole's perspective (emphasizing her unhappiness in the marriage and Charlie's insensitivity), while the second part is primarily from Charlie's (emphasizing how he feels blindsided and disadvantaged by the legal proceedings).

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Everything is like everything in a relationship."'']]

->''[Long silence.]''

''Marriage Story'' is a 2019 Creator/{{Netflix}} {{dramedy}} film directed by Creator/NoahBaumbach, starring Creator/AdamDriver and Creator/ScarlettJohansson.

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* AmoralAttorney: Nora and Jay are straight examples, though the latter is more upfront about it. {{Averted|Trope}} with Bert, however.

* CoolOldGuy: Bert is a likable person who gives Charlie good advice and wants to avoid the divorce being any worse than necessary, especially for Henry. He's also played by Alan Alda, making him this by default.

* AmoralAttorney: Nora and Jay are straight examples, though the latter is more upfront about it. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Bert, however.

* DivorceIsTemporary: Brutally {{Averted}}. There's never any real suggestion that they might reconcile. Even when it's clear that they still care about one another, it's clear that the marriage is over.

* NotSoDifferent: Nora is kinder and more affable than Jay, but she's not averse to getting down and dirty in court to match his frivolous arguments with her own.

* OnlySaneMan: Bert is the only party to want to avoid a bitter fallout and custody battle and to lack Charlie and Nicole's emotional feelings or Nora and Jay's self-interest and he gives Charlie good advice built around avoiding making the process as painless as possible, especially for Henry.
* ParentalFavoritism: Inverted. Henry is an only child, and is shown to generally favor Nicole over Charlie. She claims he's just "going through a mommy phase", but that preference, in the midst of a divorce, clearly worries Charlie a lot."

* AmbiguousDisorder: While it's claimed that Henry is "off the charts" in math, he's still struggling to read at age 9. He also comes across as immature and socially undeveloped, tends to avoid eye contact, and becomes intensely focused on his imaginary games

* AtLeastIAdmitIt: Unlike Nora, who [[SilkHidingSteel hides her aggression behind a facade of friendly sympathy]], Ray never pretends to be anything other than a bulldog who'll do whatever it takes to win. He openly berates his own client for suggesting the case would be amicable, because the only reason to pay his astronomical hourly rate is because it's going to be a fight. Whether this makes him more or less sympathetic is a matter of opinion.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Charlie is uncomfortable with Jay's tactics to start with, but walks out when Jay suggests extorting Nicole's mother by withholding Henry. As things get worse, Charlie finally does hire Ray, but that particular tactic is never pursued.

* YourCheatingHeart: Played with, Nicole discovers that Charlie slept with the stage manager, and is enraged. Charlie argues that it only happened once, after their marriage had already broken down. He claims that he'd never been unfaithful before that, and clearly regrets it. Nora's unmoved by his arguments, but even the issue of infidelity is complicated.

* ParentalFavoritism: Henry is shown to generally favor Nicole over Charlie, though it's portrayed as simply being due to him being a little kid rather than anything deeper.

* LonelyBachelorPad: Charlie's apartment in LA initially barely has furnishings. When he realizes the social worker will take it against him, he spruces it up.

* DivorceAssetsConflict: DoubleSubverted. Charlie and Nicole refuse to do this at first for the sake of trying to be AmicableExes for the sake of their son, but the moment [[AmoralAttorney Nora and Jay]] are hired, they both escalate the divorce proceedings into a full-blown war [[ItsAllAboutMe purely to prevent the other lawyer from winning]]. At the end of the film, Charlie and Nicole acknowledge that [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot things would have been less painful]] if they had just done the divorce themselves.

* BigApplesauce: PlayedWith. New York is home for the Barber family... according to Charlie, at least. Nicole's hometown is Los Angeles and it is also the city of her choice. It's just that until their separation, Charlie [[InnocentlyInsensitive assumed that the family belonged to New York because he belonged there]].

** A subtler example, but at the end, when Charlie reveals he took a residency in LA to be closer to Henry, Nicole is visibly hit by the news. It's possibly that, had he been willing to do so earlier, their marriage might not have fallen apart.

** Charlie's whole career ''is'' based in New York, that's where Henry lived his whole life, and it's reaaonable that he's assume they were based there. But Nicole is also right (even Charlie doesn't dispute it) that she'd always wanted to return to LA, and Charlie made her think they would someday, only to always put her off.
** Nicole ''does'' manipulate the situation by getting an aggressive lawyer after promising Charlie she wouldn't, thereby short-changing him when it comes to lawyers. However, she had found out that [[spoiler:he cheated on her, as she suspected.]]

* AbusiveParents: Charlie's parents were belligerent alcoholics and he makes a point of contacting or even mentioning them as little as possible.

* InformedAbility: Henry is supposed to be a smart kid. He can't read, despite being 9 by the time the story wraps, an age where most kids have that ability. While there is the possibility of a learning disability, this is never implied and Henry isn't shown to be smart in other ways.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: By the end, Charlie and Nora have put each other through hell, disrupted their lives, and spent a huge amount of money, but they come to a (nearly) equal custody arrangement, Charlie takes a residency in LA to be closer to his son, and it's implied that they're finally willing to co-parent reasonably]].

* CrusadingLawyer: Nora has shades of this, seeming largely motivated by fighting against the double standard, and by Nicole's tirade about Charlie's faults, while still remaining relatively restrained until he brings in Jay Motta.

* DivorceIsTemporary: {{Averted}}. The marriage is really over.

* GoodIsImpotent: Bert, the first lawyer that Charlie engages, is a really nice guy who wants to treat both parties fairly and above all wants to look out for Henry's best interests. This makes him a terrible divorce attorney that Nora rolls right over. Charlie has little choice but to fire him and get a more expensive and formidable lawyer, Jay, who is more of an AmoralAttorney. However, this is also ultimately subverted; Charlie eventually settles more or less on the terms Bert originally suggested, and he would have saved a lot of time and money if he hadn't viewed the divorce as a competition to begin with.
* GreyAndGreyMorality: Neither Charlie nor Nicole are better or worse than the other. Both do questionable things but remain fundamentally likable people. Similarly, both parties' lawyers tend to skew the truth to present the case favorably for their respective clients--not because they are evil but because that is what their job requires them to do.
* HappyMarriageCharade: [[InnocentlyInsensitive Charlie]] believed his and Nicole's life in New York to have been a good one until Nicole abruptly "decided" that she was unhappy with it. In reality, Nicole had made it clear countless times that she desired to live in Los Angeles rather than New York, and Charlie had just never seriously taken it into consideration.

* InformedAbility: Henry is supposed to be a smart kid. He can't read, despite being 9 by the time the story wraps, an age where most kids have that ability. While there is the possibility of a learning disability, this is never implied and Henry isn't shown to be smart in other ways.

** Charlie is actually a NiceGuy and loves Nicole very much. It's just that he assumes that she is happy with what makes him happy -- for example, the fact that they live in New York and not Los Angeles. It's not until the divorce proceedings bring to the fore what Nicole wants out of life that Charlie realizes that his assumptions may have been incorrect.

* KiddieKid: An example that verges on being a case of AmbiguousDisorder; Henry is eight years old but nearly illiterate.

* TomHanksSyndrome: In-universe. Nicole's most famous film role was a raunchy college sex comedy, but she went on to have a prolific career in various serious and artistically-driven stage performances.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Nora is needlessly ruthless to Charlie and acts outside of Nicole's own interest, but is shown to be genuinely sympathetic to her situation and is overall portrayed more favorably than her counterpart Jay.
* WhatTheHellHero: The blowout fight between Nicole and Charlie is essentially each of them delivering a barrage of these against the other.

* AmbiguousSituation: Nicole's family is LA-based, but it's not made clear if she is, indeed, manipulating the situation when she abruptly leaves for LA and meets a lawyer in order to file the divorce there.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Nicole and Charlie divorce more amicably than it looked possible. They get 55:45 custody of Henry. One year on, Nicole's happily dating someone and enjoying professional success. Charlie has taken a directing job in Los Angeles and will get to be closer to Henry. They even go on a trick-and-treat as a family and Nicole is happy to let Henry stay with Charlie for the night even though it is not his turn. But the fact remains that Nicole and Charlie are divorced and can never recreate the loving life together that they once had]].

** Charlie's whole career ''is'' based in New York and they did live in New York as a family, but Nicole is clearly right (even Charlie doesn't dispute it) that he promised her many times they would go back to Los Angeles more, and then either reneged or turned down opportunities.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Bert outright warns Charlie how the case is going to roll, including all the fine details ''and'' pointless expenses he's going to make if he tries to "win" the divorce, seeing is as a competition, along with harsh and anger-filling court process. By the end of the story, not only do all the predictions become true, but Charlie and Nicole are both aware they could have avoided all of this if they just kept to their original plan of settling things down on their own.

* RealityEnsues:
** Charlie's case for getting primary custody of Henry is that they were [[InsistentTerminology "a New York family"]], but Nicole and both of Charlie's lawyers repeatedly point out that there's little evidence to support this notion beyond Charlie's assumptions. [[spoiler:Ultimately, he does not receive primary custody for these oft-highlighted reasons.]]
** When Nora tries to manipulate the case in Nicole's favor by bringing up [[spoiler:Charlie's affair]], Jay actually allows it. Why? Because as wrong as Charlie's actions were, Nicole only found out about it by hacking Charlie's computer and reading his emails, which is a ''felony''.

* CreatorCouple: In-Universe. Charlie is a prominent New York theatre director while Nicole is an actress.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Though some liberties are taken for dramatic purposes, [[https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/marriage-story-celebrity-divorce-lawyer-interview.html several]] [[https://www.themarysue.com/marriage-story-divorce-law/ lawyers]] [[https://www.zieglerandzemsky.com/blog/2019/december/the-reality-of-a-marriage-story/ have]] complimented the film for its depiction of the legal process of divorce; the biggest departure from reality is that Nicole has not lived in California for nearly long enough to establish residency and actually be able to file for divorce (and custody) there.
* AuthorAvatar: PlayedWith. While there are clear parallels between the divorce of a hip, New York-based director (Baumbach) and his actress wife born and raised in Los Angeles (Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh), [[WordOfGod Baumbach stated]] that it was based of a collection of divorce stories from various friends.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Bert outright warns Charlie how the case is going to roll, including all the fine details ''and'' pointless expenses he's going to make if he tries to "win" the divorce, seeing is as a competition, along with harsh and anger-filling court process. By the end of the story, not only all the predictions became true, but Charlie and Nicole are both aware they could avoid all of this, if they just kept it to their original plan to settle things down on their own.
* CourtroomDrama: A painfully realistic version. Both Charlie and Nicole know that going to court will be tremendously expensive and only further their animosity towards each other, and they avoid going as long as possible. Their one trip to court more than lives up to their worst fears, and most of their divorce is negotiated in private settlements.

* ExtremeDoormat: Nicole. She allowed her mother to control her life, allowed her husband to control it from then on and ultimately ends up under the full control of her divorce lawyer. Under each of those "guidances" she does things she doesn't want, but doesn't protest or try to speak her mind, instead just going with the flow. Just watch her scenes with Nora.

* GreyAndGreyMorality: Neither Charlie nor Nicole are better or worse than the other. Both do questionable things but remain fundamentally likable people. Similarly, both parties' lawyers tend to skew the truth to present the case favourably for their respective clients--not because they are evil but because that is what their job requires them to do.

* HisAndHers: The film has companion "his" and "her" teaser trailers titled "What I like about Charlie" and "What I like about Nicole" with voiceovers from Nicole and Charlie respectively.

** Charlie is actually a NiceGuy and loves Nicole very much. It's just that he assumes that she is happy with what makes him happy--for example, the fact that they live in New York and not Los Angeles. It's not until the divorce proceedings bring to the fore what Nicole wants out of life that Charlie realises that his assumptions may have been incorrect.
** Henry says some very insensitive things to Charlie, and makes his situation needlessly harder several times, but it's hard to fault him for any of it since he's only a kid.

** ''Both'' Charlie and Nicole are painfully self-centered and narcissistic in their behaviour and decision-making. The only subject they are capable of making any sort of compromises is Henry - not due to ability to step down, but realisation of how destructive it could be for his well-being.
** Nora and Jay both make the divorce proceedings go FromBadToWorse simply because [[XMustNotWin they hate each other and don't want the other attorney to win]]. [[spoiler:Nora's final act before leaving the film (settling the shared custody so Nicole be the one who will have more time with Henry) is a massive KickTheDog event (it was done without Nicole's consent, because she wanted a 50/50 split, and strictly for bragging rights).]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Nora. At first, she is shown to be hard-nosed, hard hitting, and takes a few shots below the belt against Charlie when in court, but outside of that setting she is nothing but polite to him, even complimenting his work as a director, and everything she does is done seemingly because she begins to view Nicole as a friend and not just a client. But then [[spoiler:she goes against Nicole's wishes and gets her a 55/45 split in custody over Henry]], primarily so she could say she beat Jay.

* LeavingYouToFindMyself: Nicole realises that this is one of the reasons that she has decided to separate from Charlie: she wants to be alive for herself and not just "feeding his aliveness".

* MoodWhiplash: A tense argument about whether or not the family lives in New York abruptly breaks when a paralegal asks if they should order lunch and everyone discusses their orders, and Nora and Bert compliment Charlie's play before they get to arguing again.

** When Nora tries to manipulate the case in Nicole's favor by bringing up [[spoiler:Charlie's affair]], Jay actually allows it. Why? Because as wrong as Charlie's actions were, Nicole only found out about it by hacking Charlie's computer and reading his emails, which is a felony.
* RecycledPremise: Much like ''Theatre/TheLastFiveYears'', it's an introspective and deeply personal look at the end of a relationship, inspired by the creator's own divorce. Both center around the marriage of two creative people, which eventually breaks down at least in part because of a professional mismatch in their careers sparks jealousy, and because one is too [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]].

* SarcasticTitle: PlayedWith. The marriage is already over before the film begins- the film is about a divorce; but [[WordOfGod Baumbach]] describes it as "a movie about marriage as seen through divorce."

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The executive handing the number to a divorce attorney to Nicole. So far, the divorce was an internal affair going on its slow, gradual pace, with no hard feelings and not getting bankrupt (or robbing Henry's education funds). Everything goes to hell once Nicole gets in touch with Nora.