Friday, March 19, 2010
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME
Friday, March 19, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Greenberg
For Him, L.A. Means: Lost.
Alone.
Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig in the comedy-drama "Greenberg", which opened in
New York and Los Angeles today.
Focus
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Friday, March 19, 2010
Noah Baumbach's sixth feature film is "Greenberg", about a lonely and troubled
soul played by Ben Stiller, who meanders through his mind and tries to forge a
connection in Los Angeles. Roger Greenberg, a 40-something man, has not
been able to survive, or at least stand up to New York City after many years
there. A constant complainer, he tends to think about things on the spot
or as he's about to do them. He heads to L.A. to housesit for his brother,
who is away on vacation.
Mr. Stiller isn't terrible as Roger, donning a combustible affectation for this
type of material. Mr. Baumbach's comedy possesses more gloom than Mr.
Stiller's and there appears to be a disconnect between his performance and the
overall mood of the director's film. Mr. Stiller is capable of doing
better than he does here (he wowed in the 1990s drama "Permanent Midnight").
If he's good at all here, he excels to a degree in playing an unsettled social
misfit, even if there's a level of transparency in the portrayal.
Often "Greenberg" delights in pretension or manufactures a genuine attempt to
make the most infinitesimal human engagements feel profound. The film
opened in New York and Los Angeles today, and in San Francisco and other U.S.
cities next Friday.
(An aside: I'm not sure if somewhere the director was going for a Cassavetes'
feel, but if he was, he doesn't succeed. There's a vitality, passion and
raw honesty in John Cassavetes' work that "Greenberg" sorely lacks.)
Mr. Baumbach's film tries to create a schism between the 1970s-80s and the
present day. Mr. Stiller's brittle and impulsive character represents the
past or a hollow, lonely aftermath of it, a past trapped between the halcyon
glory days and the very real now. Symbolically, the generational tension
here is represented in one party scene, which drags out somewhat indulgently.
The scene works hard to recreate a 1970s or 80s Los Angeles in an attempt at
nostalgia, but instead the joke is on both the film's main character and the
movie itself.
That said, Greta Gerwig is the revelation of "Greenberg". Miss Gerwig's
performance as Florence is filled with an awkwardness and reality that makes the
character interesting. She's imperfect and authentic, representing a woman
you may have had a conversation with, or seen in a bookstore. When Miss
Gerwig isn't on screen the film lags.
Written by Mr. Baumbach and based on a story by the director and his wife
Jennifer Jason Leigh, who also has a small role onscreen, "Greenberg" as a film
often takes one step forward and two steps back. The two lead performers
(Stiller and Gerwig) do what they can, but the film, littered with musings and
vacant moments arguably representing thoughts in the lonely title character's
head, is ultimately unable to sustain itself.
With: Rhys Ifans, Mark Duplass, Chris Messina, Jake Paltrow, Susan Traylor,
Merritt Wever, Blair Tefkin, Mina Badie, Zach Chassler, Brie Larson, Juno
Temple.
"Greenberg" is rated R for some strong sexuality, drug use, and language.
violence.
The film's duration is one hour and 47 minutes.
Extra: Omar's conversation with Greta Gerwig - full story
here, full audio below:
FOLLOW
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
SUBSCRIBE TO THE POPCORN REEL MOVIE
REVIEWS RSS FEED
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME