Marriage Story

What I love about Nicole...

she makes people feel comfortable about even embarrassing things.

Hey, you look like you care about animals.

Yes, I do.

She really listens when someone is talking.

- Do you want to sign up here? - You know what? I...

It's funny, I actually signed up for this but I never heard from you guys.

Sometimes she listens too much for too long.

Okay, if you email me here...

- Thank you so much. Have a good day. - Good luck.

She's a good citizen.

- Just call him. - I'm not calling.

She always knows the right thing to do when it comes to difficult family shit.

Call him.

I get stuck in my ways,

and she knows when to push me and when to leave me alone.

She cuts all our hair.

Yeah!

She's always inexplicably

brewing a cup of tea that she doesn't drink.

And it's not easy for her to put away a sock, or close a cabinet,

or do a dish, but she tries for me.

Nicole grew up in LA around actors, and directors, and movies, and TV,

and is very close to her mother, Sandra,

and Cassie, her sister.

- Hmm. - Note the wrapping.

Nicole gives great presents.

Uh...

She is a mother who plays, really plays.

- Lizard? - Yeah.

She never steps off playing

or says it's too much.

- Mom. - And it must be too much some of the time.

"...chopped down a Christmas tree..."

All right.

Nice. Two, three, four... What?

Are you kidding me? I was just in jail!

Goddamn it!

- Do not laugh at me! Stop it! - She's competitive.

She's amazing at opening jars because of her strong arms,

which I've always found very sexy.

She keeps the fridge over-full.

No one is ever hungry in our house.

She can drive a stick.

How could you?

After that movie, All Over The Girl,

she could have stayed in LA and been a movie star,

but she gave that up to do theater with me in New York.

You might as well get what you paid for.

She's brave.

She's a great dancer.

Infectious. She makes me wish I could dance.

She always says when she doesn't know something, or hasn't read a book,

or seen a film or a play,

whereas I fake it or say something like I haven't seen it in awhile.

My crazy ideas are her favorite things to figure out how to execute.

Let's try it...

crawling...

but also standing.

She's my favorite actress.

What I love about Charlie...

Charlie is undaunted.

He never lets other people's opinions or any setbacks

keep him from what he wants to do.

And he liked me, so...

Charlie eats like he's trying to get it over with

and like there won't be enough food for everyone.

A sandwich is to be strangled while devoured.

Is your sweater on backwards?

But he's incredibly neat, and I rely on him to keep things in order.

So...

He's energy-conscious.

Hey.

Sorry.

He doesn't look in the mirror too often.

I cried four times.

Me too.

He cries easily in movies.

I wonder if it was the same four.

He's very self-sufficient. He can darn a sock,

and cook himself dinner, and iron a shirt.

How are we doing over here?

The peppers are cut.

He rarely gets defeated, which...

I feel like I always do.

...I've got some carrots.

Charlie takes all of my moods steadily.

He doesn't give in to them or make me feel bad about them.

He's a great dresser.

He never looks embarrassing, which is hard for a man.

Goddamn it, Charlie, get it together!

He's very competitive.

Oh, come on!

- What's this? Who owns Baltic Avenue? - Me.

How much is it?

- I don't have enough. - $450.

Okay, so I'm done? I'm done, right? That's it?

This is so frustrating!

This is so frustrating. I always lose.

- Dad. - He loves being a dad.

He loves all the things you're supposed to hate, like the tantrums,

the waking up at night.

I had a bad dream.

It's okay.

It's almost annoying how much he likes it,

but... then, it's mostly nice.

Dad, stay.

He disappears into his own world.

Shit.

- What's "shit?" - This is our stop.

He and Henry are alike in that way.

He can tell people when they have food in their teeth or on their face

in a way that doesn't make them feel bad.

Perfect.

Charlie is self-made.

His parents...

I only met them once, but...

he told me there was a lot of alcohol and some violence in his childhood.

As soon as she comes with a lookout, they're coming with a camcorder.

- Camcorder. - Is that what they're called?

He moved to New York from Indiana with no safety net,

and now he's more New Yorker than any New Yorker.

I made sure they used the right almond milk.

Genius.

He's brilliant at creating family out of whoever is around.

With the theater company, he cast a spell that made everyone feel included.

No one, not even an intern, was unimportant.

He could remember all the inside jokes.

And where do you go when it's windy?

Oh, yeah, that... that was funny.

He's extremely organized and thorough.

He's very clear about what he wants,

unlike me, who can't always tell.

Let's stop right there.

Who wants to start?

I-I'm not going to read this out loud.

Why is that?

Because I don't like what I wrote.

As we mediate your separation

and eventual divorce,

things can get quite contentious.

So, I like to begin with a note of positivity,

for the people I work with to remember why they got married in the first place.

And so that, as you come apart,

you're reminded that...

this is a person you had great feeling for,

and maybe still do in many ways.

I'll read mine. I like what I wrote.

For it to really work,

you both have to read.

I'm not going to.

Okay, um...

I just think it's a shame that you guys aren't going to get to hear,

uh, the wonderful things you wrote about each other.

She always says I can't write, but I think mine's pretty good.

Nicole, maybe you'd change your mind once you heard Charlie's.

I don't want to hear Charlie's.

We promised to listen.

That's right.

That's the very first step in this process.

Well, I think I'm going to go if you two are going to just sit around

and suck each other's dicks.

How can this evil allow moderation?

How can this evil allow moderation?

How can it be right to betray the departed?

How is it human to be so...

faithless?

I want no praise from impious men.

No home with them of quiet ease.

Noble blood still runs in my veins.

Shall I fail my father...

stifling my cries,

clipping the wings of grief?

Must his corpse in the ground wretchedly waste away,

feebly count for nothing?

Must his killers gloat...

Must his killers gloat,

never to pay with blood, for blood...

Charlie gave me the note, but it's really for you.

- He told me to pick up my cues. - How is that for me?

Acting is reacting.

I'm responding to you. You're slowing me down.

Frank, it's closing night, you know.

You don't think Charlie and Nicole will ever get back together?

No, I think this time it's really over.

- It still feels weird. - I feel like my parents are splitting up.

It's always been "Charlie and Nicole."

- Is Charlie still giving notes? - Yep.

You're lucky, Nic. I wish I was going to LA.

You can actually have space in LA. There's no space here.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I want to make a toast

to Charlie...

and to our beloved Nicole,

who is going to be going out on a new adventure,

all the way to sunny California.

And we are also going to try something new.

We are going to take our play to Broadway.

It reminds me of when I was a young person

and went to Broadway for the first time.