Marriage Story + American Factory = Uncut Gems

Here are two Oscar-nominated (and depressing) movies about how messy and expensive it is to do stuff in America:

Marriage Story

American Factory

Both movies are ominous and engrossing, but American Factory is the better film. It's a documentary (with no narration) that tells the story of an Ohio-based GM plant that closed down in 2008, leaving thousands jobless, only to rise from the ashes in 2015 as a Chinese owned auto glass factory. The new American employees do not have the backing of a union, and they are expected to work to the standards of their Chinese counterparts. Instead of thirty dollars an hour-- the amount many made at the old plant-- they now make $12.74 an hour. To handle hot glass. At times the movie is humorous-- especially when the Chinese labor leaders characterize Americans: you have to train them over and over, they have fat fingers, they like to take weekends off, they drive big cars and dress casually and say what they mean. They can make fun of the president and not go to jail! But mainly the story is frightening-- are American workers going to be able to compete on the world stage? We may be too fat, lazy, slow, and overpaid.

It's harder to care about the costs in Marriage Story. The movie would work better if it were a couple of factory workers getting divorced, instead of a guy who won the MacArthur genius grant and a successful television actress. Then the expense of all those lawyers and all the plane flights and trying to pay rent in two cities would really hit home.

American Factory won the Academy Award for best documentary and Marriage Story was nominated for best picture.

Meanwhile, Uncut Gems, the second-best movie of the year (behind Parasite) combined BOTH of these themes and got nominated for nothing. Such a shame.

Uncut Gems deals with global trade-- an Ethiopian opal on the market in New York City-- and a character under economic duress. There's looming divorce, the money it costs to keep a mistress, and constant obsession with work and money. And there's a variety of social classes represented: from the hustling Demany (LaKeith Stanfield) all the way up to Kevin Garnett.

It's WAY more fun than American Factory and Marriage Story.