I think, it's not really that communication breaks down, it is more that you don't need to communicate at all because you know the other person so well by now. Then divorce happens because you don't like what you know or you realize your spouse isn't what you wanted, or the marriage becomes stronger because you anticipate your partners needs/actions without having to communicate. So yeah, the analogy is not really right.
While it is true that you learn your spouse that well, it will be long before that when you realize if don't like them.
However when you don't communicate, your lives get out of sync. At some point this has gone on long enough, the changes we go through (called life) cause people to become strangers again.
It's like two inertial systems. They drift, differently, over time and this difference accumulates. Communication between the two inertial units can synchronize them. Or a trusted third party (GPS) can give them both a course correction.
