Lo stravagante mondo di Greenberg

Greetings again from the darkness. Noah Baumbach wrote and directed the excellent "The Squid and the Whale", and it is with "Greenberg" that he really makes a statement as an independent filmmaker to anticipate. The second gem is always the most elusive. That said, I am not sure I can recommend this movie to very many people, despite all the good things I am about to write.

This is the first Ben Stiller role that actually seems to fit him. His typical role is as a punchline. Here, he plays a guy who recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is now house-sitting for his rich brother, whose family is vacationing in Vietnam. Throughout the movie, Greenberg states he is concentrating on doing "nothing" right now. Of course, that is his defense mechanism for being unable to connect or communicate with any real person. Yes, that sounds bleak ... and it is. Yet, it is also fascinating and thought-provoking.

Despite Stiller's strong turn, Greta Gerwig (as Florence) proves to be the heart of the story. She is the family assistant to Greenberg's brother and finds herself oddly attracted to Greenberg's vulnerable state. This is my first exposure to Ms. Gerwig and I find her fascinating as an actress. She has a natural openness on screen and is certainly no glamour-gal. Instead she comes across as a very real 25 year old trying to make sense of life - especially her own.

In addition to Ms. Gerwig, Rhys Ifans provides outstanding support work as Greenberg's long ago band mate. This is the polar opposite of Ifan's character in "The Boat that Rocked" as here is just a guy putting together a grown up life for himself. He struggles with the adjustment, but accurately depicts how choices can make or break us.

I am not sure whether to categorize this as a character study or just an exquisitely written series of scenes that hit the nail on the head. One of the best scenes of the film is when Stiller meets up with Jennifer Jason Leigh and she immediately rebuffs his reconciliation attempts. They had been a couple briefly 15 years ago and she has obviously moved on. Excellent film-making.

The best way I can describe Greenberg the character is that he is a compilation of the dark thought that we all experience from time to time ... a desire to do nothing, wanting to be blunt and direct, dreams of recapturing the magic of youth, and of course, writing complaint letters for everything wrong in the world. Obviously, most of us spend very little real time on these things, but that is the Greenberg character. Let's keep an eye on Mr. Baumbach - he may just be the real deal.

Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) is single, forty-ish and at a crossroads in his life, finds himself in Los Angeles, house-sitting for six weeks for his more successful/married-with-children brother. In search of a place to restart his life, Greenberg tries to reconnect with old friends including his former band mate Ivan (Rhys Ifans). But old friends aren't necessarily still best friends, and Greenberg soon finds himself spending more and more time with his brother's personal assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig), an aspiring singer and also something of a lost soul. Despite his best attempts not to be drawn in, Greenberg and Florence manage to forge a connection, and Greenberg realizes he may at last have found a reason to be happy.

I'm not Stiller's biggest fan. He usually does this very lame and silly comedies which aren't really my thing and that's what I was expecting from this film. Instead, Greenberg turned out to be something completely different and Stiller's performance was amazing. I hadn't been so surprised by a film in a while. And even thought you will laugh several times, this funny and moving tale is far from being a comedy. In fact, there's a sad and melancholic tone throughout the entire film and it doesn't really light up as many viewers were perhaps hoping for, which for me, made the all experience much better, because, let's face it, life isn't always great and happy endings are rare.

The script is incredibly refreshing, the dialog is brilliant and the direction was absolutely impeccable, really some of the best I've seen lately. The opening shot, for instance is a good example of what I'm talking about and it kinda set the tone for the rest of the film. There's also a lot of conceptual scenes, like Greenbelt trying to swim in the pool, which I love. Granted, the plot could have a little more direction but each scene as random as it may seem is so delightful and rich in subtext that you find yourself not really caring about that. Even the somewhat abrupt ending, which at first disappointed me but now seems completely fitting, shows how this film refuses to follow any conventional formulas.

As I've mentioned before, Stiller was great as the lead character but so was Greta Gerwig as Florence. Much like Greenberg, Florence is this sort of offish, social out-casted girl and Gerwig plays the weird and awkward "vibe" so well it's astonishing. The supporting cast did a good job too with Rhys Ifans standing out. In conclusion, Greenberg is nice little slice of life and one of the best films I've seen this year. And yes, the fact that I related to some of the lead character's anger helped a bit. Definitely worth seeing.

8/10

This film has major flaws and isn't exactly an enjoyable watch. Its first problem is that it goes out of its way to be awkwardly geeky, it seems contrived and not quaintly quirky. Ben stiller is the wrong guy for the job as he just comes across as Ben stiller in another movie and although he is well known for playing characters with character flaws that make them boarder line jerks in this instance we never get to believe this character is real because its just Ben Stiller being a slight variation of what he always plays. Greta Gerwig is a recognizable conglomeration of various awkward geek characteristics we've seen around and she does it well but because the script seemed so contrived her performance is somewhat tainted by what's around it. The biggest question about this film an the people it portrays is why should we care. I know I didn't and for that reason it fails.

I was under the impression that this would be another wacky Ben Stiller comedy. When I started watching it and learned that Noah Baumbach (who had previously made the excellent 'Margot at the Wedding') was the director, I knew this was going to be a different kind of movie that would probably reveal a different side of Ben Stiller's acting. Many have described this to be for Stiller what 'Punch Drunk Love' was for Adam Sandler and 'Stranger Than Fiction' was for Will Ferrell.

Baumbach's 'Greenberg' is a character driven piece that centres on Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller), who recently left a mental asylum and is back in town to housesit for his brother who's away on holiday. He falls for his brother's assistant and tries to pick up the pieces of a life he had once left behind while going through a midlife crisis.

Like he did with 'Margot at the Wedding', Baumbach's execution is lowkey and his narration mostly relies on the interactions between the characters and the protagonist's quiet moments when he/she is alone. The art direction is suitably minimal and the camera-work is solid. The dry humour is very effective and consistent with the atmosphere Baumbach creates.

Ben Stiller does a remarkable job with an effortless performance. This is definitely a departure from what he's familiar with and he proves that he can deliver a restrained performance when required. Rhys Ifans is equally good. Jennifer Jason Leigh (who also co-wrote the screenplay) provides fine support on both counts. Greta Gerwig is competent.

Baumbach has done it again, successfully telling a complex story that appears to be much more than what shows on the surface.

This film was slightly misadvertised. It is not a "funny movie," it is a pseudo-slice of life movie with an eccentric but believable character. It is a comedy in the sense that it is not a tragedy.

I enjoyed this film immensely. I found it very cathartic and realistic. It is "funny" in the sense that Ben Stiller is socially inappropriate at times, but honestly, it's not a "funny" film, and sometimes the film tries to be funny and definitely falls flat. The story is also a little slow to start. That said, it's still a good film.

Some people clearly don't "get" this film...Anyone who says "it wasn't funny!!" or "nothing happened!" is missing the point. This is one of those rare movies based entirely on character, with a very realistic plot progression. It's not the best movie of the year or anything, but it's a really good example of a character-driven story. If you don't care about or "get" Greenberg, there is nothing for you here.

I must protest the people who say the film is unbelievable. It *is* very believable, but not necessarily relatable. It portrays a man bordering on mental instability *very* well.

Ultimately, this movie is similar to Woody Allen pics in affect, although much less "funny." But it still has that "world through the eyes of a neurotic" gimmick, as well as the laissez-faire plot progression.

Ben Stiller also deserves praise for a great, "real" performance as Greenberg, and he is supported by a mixed cast (some great, some poor).

I recommend this film to anyone familiar with OCD, anxiety, or anyone over 40 who asks "what happened?"