Sing Sing

Marriage Story is another one of those films (like The Irishman and Dolemite Is My Name) that'll play for a month in theatres if you just can't wait, and then will be on Netflix.  Most people, then, haven't seen the film, but I recently went to a screening.  I don't think I'm giving away anything by noting it's about a marriage breaking up.

Maybe I'm giving away a bit more, but no important plot information, by saying the two leads--Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver--both get to sing a Stephen Sondheim song.  Johansson does "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" while Driver performs "Being Alive."

Aren't these numbers too on the nose?  It can be fun to have a musical spot or two in a movie, but in non-musicals you don't necessarily want the songs to comment on the action.  But these two songs are both well-known numbers from Sondheim's Company--a show about how difficult marriage and relationships can be.

On top of which, isn't the film begging to be compared with Company, a show that won six Tonys including Best Musical?  Maybe writer-director Noah Baumbach should have picked a few songs from Guys And Dolls.