Was really looking forward to this one...

Ugh.

It should have been called Divorce Story - aside from that it was a pedestrian, boring, energy-less story.  Basically just takes you through the details of a couple getting divorced. There is no new ground plowed here and the subject has been handled so much better in other films. No

The supporting cast was pretty stellar. I hated Adam Drive in this (could he play and dumber??) and was unimpressed with Scarlet - and I generally like this stuff.

A total miss for me.

I actually started reading the script today. Got 20 pages in and had to be somewhere so I stopped. But I was invested in the characters up to that point.

Quoted from SAC I actually started reading the script today. Got 20 pages in and had to be somewhere so I stopped. But I was invested in the characters up to that point.

I read 30 pages. Thought it was solid.  Didnt transfer to film IMO

I agree with you, Dave, I was really looking forward to this too! It was laborious right from the start which is a shame but that mainly comes down to the choice of the direction of the story.

SPOILERS

I thought this was going to be a tale about sticking it out through the rough patches and finding each other again. I think that would have been a far more satisfying narrative - at least for me.

Based on the touching 'what I love about her/him' trailers' I thought for sure it was going to be more upbeat and even romantic overall. Instead hold on for complete annihilation and character assassination.

Got to give it to Noah Baumbach - some mighty astute observations about marriage, relationships, ugly divorce lawyers being the only winners, etc., and I only downloaded the script to read the showdown scene where you feel like you've been hit by a sledgehammer.  This needed a more optimistic ending. I've seen Kramer v Kramer,  The Story Of Us,  An Unmarried Woman - all a bit heavy handed imho. The comic element helps - Crazy Stupid Love added much needed humour, as did Mrs Doubtfire, even an oldie but a goodie like Heartburn, with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson (Nora Ephron).

For once I'd like to see the real life warts and all truth about marriage in fiction/film with it not leading to divorce as the natural outcome, but rather the characters fighting to save what they had in the beginning - yep, all the stuff in the trailer. Oh, well.

Can't fault the performances. Girls put Adam Driver on the map and he's really such a versatile talent. And Scarlett left all vanity behind in this one with a very brave performance - forget waking up in the morning with your makeup and lippy freshly applied.

I think a lot of the writing was spot on too.
It was just too bloody dreary.

Quoted from LC I agree with you, Dave, I was really looking forward to this too! It was laborious right from the start which is a shame but that mainly comes down to the choice of the direction of the story. SPOILERS I thought this was going to be a tale about sticking it out through the rough patches and finding each other again. I think that would have been a far more satisfying narrative - at least for me. Based on the touching 'what I love about her/him' trailers' I thought for sure it was going to be more upbeat and even romantic overall. Instead hold on for complete annihilation and character assassination. Got to give it to Noah Baumbach - some mighty astute observations about marriage, relationships, ugly divorce lawyers being the only winners, etc., and I only downloaded the script to read the showdown scene where you feel like you've been hit by a sledgehammer.  This needed a more optimistic ending. I've seen Kramer v Kramer,  The Story Of Us,  An Unmarried Woman - all a bit heavy handed imho. The comic element helps - Crazy Stupid Love added much needed humour, as did Mrs Doubtfire, even an oldie but a goodie like Heartburn, with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson (Nora Ephron). For once I'd like to see the real life warts and all truth about marriage in fiction/film with it not leading to divorce as the natural outcome, but rather the characters fighting to save what they had in the beginning - yep, all the stuff in the trailer. Oh, well. Can't fault the performances. Girls put Adam Driver on the map and he's really such a versatile talent. And Scarlett left all vanity behind in this one with a very brave performance - forget waking up in the morning with your makeup and lippy freshly applied. I think a lot of the writing was spot on too. It was just too bloody dreary.

I think you've summed it up perfectly. All in all a missed opportunity.  Dreary is the exact right word.  I add two movies to your divorce list - When a Man Loves A Woman - yes, dreary and ended in Divorce yet somehow compelling because the cause of the divorce wasn't pedestrian.  War of The Roses - great blending of comedy

I absolutely loved it (but I love everything Baumbach does - even Margot at The Wedding).

The scene where Driver and Johanssen finally have an actual, in-person, no-holds-barred argument was so true to life. And I'm very impressed by how completely ambiguous the movie is in not making one character more villainous than the other. This easily could have turned into some "men always get shafted by the family law court system" rhetoric but Dern's character actually points out how court-appointed family assessments are so unbelievably unfair on women.

It was also very realistic on a technical sense. I used to do family law court reports (as in, that awkward scene with the social worker observing Driver and the kids's dinner - that was me) and they are exactly like that. Everyone knows it's a farce but you have to play your part.

This was the definition of "fine." I've been increasingly unenthused by Noah Baumbach for some time now, despite holding him in reasonably high regard at one point. This was a significant improvement over his last film (The Meyerowitz Stories), but I hated that one so it's kind of a wash in the end. I did appreciate this one was a little more simple, focused, and grounded than the last few (i.e. less annoying), but perhaps that also makes it a little less exciting/memorable.

I did appreciate the take on divorce though. It is different than how most films take on the subject, I think. A lot more focus on divorce lawyers and how your life experience can be co-opted by someone else for their benefit, despite them claiming to be operating on your behalf. At the same time, the lawyers were kinda humanized as well in the sense that they're trying to do the best they can within a cynical, predatory system where positioning yourself as honest, fair, or agreeable can actually be quite harmful. All in all, the process is shown as bringing out the worst in people who might otherwise have been able to maintain an amicable post-marriage relationship (as opposed to the more black-and-white approach to the subject I see adopted by most films).

Not bad for streaming on a sleepy day, I suppose. Don't expect I'd recommend/rewatch though.