There have been numerous analyses of the character and relationship dynamics in the new acclaimed film, MARRIAGE STORY. However, perplexingly, there appears to have thus far been no critical scholarship on the most essential element of the film: the Monopoly games. A thread: 
Adam Driver’s character Charlie is awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, colloquially known as a “Genius Grant.” However, this is a huge plot hole, as Charlie is clearly not a genius given his appalling Monopoly strategy, and the committee would never have offered such an award to him.
For example, in an early scene, Charlie lands on Baltic Avenue with a hotel ($450 rent) and declares, “Who owns Baltic Avenue?” and “How much is it?,” an utterly shocking lack of knowledge. (His son Henry owns the purple monopoly.)
Charlie then proceeds to declare bankruptcy despite clearly having cash and unmortgaged purple, yellow, and other properties that, if mortgaged, could easily cover the $450 rent bill.
Henry then, after acquiring the assets of this false bankruptcy, proceeds to illegally collect Charlie’s assets *unmortgaged* rather than mortgaging them, collecting those funds, and paying 10% asset valuation transaction fee to the bank as dictated by the rules.
In this same game, Henry appears to have a house on a *railroad*, an obviously illegal location to place a house. (If the house were accidentally moved from Oriental Avenue to Reading Railroad, then not placing it on the most expensive light blue property is a strategic error.)
In a later scene, the Henry is playing a game with his friends Molly and Jules.
Here, Jules owns both the light blue and orange monopolies. However, he inexplicably decides to allocate his funds to put 1-2 houses on each of the six properties of those two monopolies rather than concentrating houses on the three much more lucrative orange monopoly properties.
Also, Molly foolishly leaves Illinois Ave (the most expensive red property, as well as the most landed-upon property in the game) with only two houses while the others have three. This disastrous error earns its just desserts when Henry draws a card advancing him to Illinois Ave.
Finally, Henry, upon receiving this card, then *backtracks* his ship token to Illinois Ave rather than advancing it, thus forgoing the $200 he would receive from passing Go.
In another scene, the Barber family is playing a game with cash in the middle of the board, implying that they are playing with the “Free Parking” house rule, an unofficial and illicit variation from the official game rules, which no serious Monopoly players would ever entertain.
Scarlett Johansson’s character, Nicole, then paradoxically expresses frustration about landing in jail. However, at this late stage in the game, it is optimal for players to occupy jail for the maximum turns allowable to minimize risk they will land on other players’ properties.
Given these heinous errors in such a central element of the narrative, I am baffled by the acclaim MARRIAGE STORY has received, and implore the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to retract its Best Picture nomination to ensure they are seen on the right side of history.
