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Marriage Story charts the dissolution of one married couple's (Adam Driver's Charlie and Scarlett Johansson's Nicole) relationship virtually from start to finish, as filmmaker Noah Baumbach follows the protagonists through the minutia of modern-day divorce and its myriad of humiliations and complications.

The film opens in a therapist's office, where Charlie and Nicole have each written down what they love about the other. Charlie reads his touching letter aloud, but Nicole refuses before storming out of the office. Before the instant turmoil, Charlie and Nicole lived in New York City with their young son, Henry (Azhy Robertson). Charlie directs experimental plays, usually starring Nicole, who was previously a teenage movie star. She is offered a starring role in a television pilot in Los Angeles and takes Henry to live with her mother, Sandra (Julie Hagerty), who has a special relationship with Charlie. The move is supposed to be temporary, but when Charlie arrives, he realizes Nicole is laying down roots in California. Pushed by Nicole, Charlie agrees to split amicably and forego hiring divorce attorneys. This changes when Nicole hires an experienced litigator, Nora Fanshaw (Dern), to handle the legal separation. As the case heads to court, the couple also must wade through feelings of betrayal, neglect and resentment, while saving face for young Henry.

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“Why film a story when one can write it? Why write it when one is going to film it?” This is how Eric Rohmer (1920-2010) introduced his Six Moral Tales.

Welcome to the exciting, hesitant, guilt-laden and provocative world of Eric Rohmer, and his varied voyages of slightly intimidated romantic discovery. There are six Moral Tales (and some short subjects) and each finds a main character stymied by indecision: should he hew to the narrow moral path, or stop being so conflicted and let relationships happen as they may? Some are moral debates and others are just ruminations on the foolishness of males that overthink their love lives — or are these self-directed men simply trying to be considerate and fair while navigating their amorous possibilities?

For viewers who only care about plot, here's a quick summary that applies to most of the films in Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" series, now collected in a box set: Boy meets girl. Boy flirts with girl. Boy leaves girl for another girl whom he already loves. The story basically stays the same from the 1962 short "The Bakery Girl Of Monceau" through the 1972 feature Love In The Afternoon, although the second entry, Suzanne's Career, veers from it slightly.

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