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Capone counts Ben Stiller's work in Noah Baumbach's GREENBERG as some of his finest! The movie ain't bad either…
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
It's great to see that Ben Stiller still has a few tricks up his sleeve, and I'll admit, I was concerned when I heard that he was teaming with writer-director Noah Baumbach (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE; MARGOT AT THE WEDDING), because I feared that Baumbach would tailor his dry, blunt sense of humor to suit Stiller's less-subtle approach as an actor. Instead what we get is one of Stiller's best roles in quiet some time--maybe of his entire career (I'd put it on par with his semi-serious/semi-funny work in PERMANENT MIDNIGHT or YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS). In GREENBERG, Stiller plays Roger Greenberg, a jobless, free-floating man who once had a shot at a music career but basically chickened out. He moves from New York to LA to house sit while his brother (Chris Messina) and his family go on an extended vacation. Roger seems committed to doing nothing while in LA, but that doesn't quite work out.
He meets the family's assistant-housekeeper-dog caretaker Florence (Greta Gerwig), who is also an aspiring singer who has just gotten out of a long-term relationship and seems about as adrift as Roger. The two sort of hit it off, enough to attempt a date and even sex, although neither activity is especially successful. Roger's brusque, off-putting demeanor makes it difficult to see how he has ever made a single friend in his life, but he did and we meet a few of them, including former bandmates played by Rhys Ifans and Mark Duplass. Ifans' character Ivan is especially interesting as he is going through a tough time with his wife and kids, and he wants nothing more than to fix things and fall back into his comfortable life. Being a freeloader with his friend doesn't interest him at all.
GREENBERG is populated with characters searching for anything resembling a connection, but we've seen that before. What separates Baumbach's work is that his characters are also searching for a vocabulary with which to express themselves to actually make these connections. Roger sets far too easily achievable goals for himself, such as building a doghouse for his brother's dog or writing letters of complaint to corporations about the most inconsequential things. It's almost embarrassing how he conducts his life, but that doesn't stop people for sometimes being inexplicably drawn to him, including Florence.
Unless you follow the so-called Mumblecore (a term I hate mostly because its implications are inaccurate) scene, Gerwig will probably be new to you. And her struggle to express herself is equal parts endearing and frustrating (her good looks push it into the endearing hemisphere for me). Florence goes through a crisis of her own late in the film, and her inability to handle it is awful and sweet at the same time. She excels at making most meaningless turn of phrase seem funny and tragic. I've seen her in other works, but this is the first time I fell for her completely. Not to overlook Stiller's performance, which is something of substance. Roger is not simply playing Stiller-esque type. He's a miserable, needy human being that I seriously doubt I'd ever want to spend any time with in the real world, but in GREENBERG, he's worth watching. There's a sequence during which he allows his brother's stepdaughter to throw a college party in the house. They way he interacts with the younger people is sublime as he expresses both envy and disdain for their ideas, ideals and mistaken belief that they are invulnerable. Terrific stuff from Stiller, although you may end up hating Roger by the end of the film, if not sooner. But it's less important to like him then it is to understand where he's coming from.
Baumbach doesn't change much up in terms of his writing or visual style, but I don't have a problem with that. I happen to like his straightforward approach to directing, while letting his writing and work with actors rule the day. Stiller and Gerwig are great together and apart; they don't need to play off each other to be great, but when they are together, the discomfort is palpable, but the attraction makes sense as well. GREENBERG probably won’t land on my Favorites of the Year list, but Baumbach is getting better and more mature as a filmmaker, and the more he makes me squirm watching his creations, the more I applaud him. This is a superb exercise in awkward beauty.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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good Ben Stiller is few and far between these days.
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Mar 26, 2010 10:54:15 AM CDT
I guess you are the only one working today, eh capone?
by thedark0knight
I'll definitely watch this, I just don't know when. I loved The Squid & the Whale...Margot At the Wedding was just ok.
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not the Will Ferrel monstrosity
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that is all
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I couldn't help but find that movie irritating because I wanted to punch Jeff Daniels character in the face repeatedly
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Mar 26, 2010 11:28:09 AM CDT
gotta admit, it looks like children would find this dull...
by tisketmaster
...it being character driven, and all.
I'm just glad that a look at some dark, failed characters comes out of hollywood occasionally. I don't always want popcorn fair. Of course, if you only want pure entertainment, feel free to watch any number of other movies that come out each year, and let the few of us who enjoy this kind of thing have our modest number of films that are trying to do something else. -
Except for his co-write on the Fantastic Mr. Fox script which is a wonderful movie and for Squid and the Whale which was 3/4 of a good movie in search of a third act, I find Baumbach's films unwatchable.
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At the Dublin film festival at the end of February. I dont remember much about it. They lady in it has nice boobs though.
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Is a great fucking movie, and I'm willing to give this a shot.
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Total "indie" bullshit. I also loved The Squid and The Whale until probably the last act, and especially the ending. It just ended and it seemed like there should have been ten or so more minutes of wrapping everything up.
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Heh, I kid, I kid. I understand completely why some people don't dig some of Stiller's work, but I'm not one of those people. I've enjoyed a great deal of the movies he's made. Certainly I'm not a Ben Stiller hater. Anyway, I've been looking forward to this one. If Capone gives it a pass I'm sure I won't be disappointed.
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If anything, I'd say it was overrated. I thought the idea of it was absolutely brilliant, but it just felt much too long for me--it's like they tried to stuff in every possible riff on the core gag and then let the scenes run too long. A good 15-20 minutes chopped off the top would've made it much better, IMO. But anyway - anything with Stiller (with the exception of those Museum movies) is automatically at least interesting to me--he's almost always good, even if the end product can be either brilliant (Zoolander) or pretty meh (The Heartbreak Kid).
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Mar 26, 2010 1:30:55 PM CDT
The Squid and the Whale was so good it was unwatchable.
by fluffyunbound
Seriously. The characters were so real, and their situation was so perfectly observed, that it was absolutely impossible to sit through. It was like accidentally waking up after a nap to find yourself in the middle of your neighbors' divorce. What would you do? Quietly leave and hope not to be seen. That was what I had to do with that movie. Turn it off and feel really embarrassed that Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney had caught me eavesdropping on them.
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was only OK. A very small film -- it felt like a short story. The most interesting thing about it was seeing what had become of Debra Winger, but her big scene was pure melodrama. And I have no idea what all the fuss was over Anne Hathaway's performance -- it was fine, but one of the five best of the year? Ummm...not feeling it.
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I am_NOTREAL, that's hilarious.
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Wrong fuckin' movie. Well, color me embarrassed. Nevermind!
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THE FUCKING SOUNDTRACK.......
YOU FUCK -
The Wquid and the Whale(rental for me), was actually decent.And hey, he helped write the Royal Tenenbaums, so he did REAL good there too.But Margot at the Wedding(w Jack black!)was frigging mind numbing.He should make 1 REALLY GOOD FILM every 5 years,instead of depressing mediocre ones every 2!
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The trailer and all of the advertising sucks for this movie. What the hell were they thinking?
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Everyone thought Tropic Thunder was hilarious. The movie sucked. I dont think I laughed once. Its just awful.
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The trailer makes me hate Ben Stiller. I am a Ben Stiller fan. They need to cut a better trailer.
Also, The Squid and The Whale was great because, as mentioned, it was painfully real. -
Then I could make garbage over and over and get my dick sucked by critics. The fact that Baumbach is rated at all is retarded. Overrated seems like a term almost invented for him.
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I'm not knocking the guy. In every single one of his movies, I can find pieces of it that I absolutely love (GREENBERG included), but I don't really like any of his films as a whole. I feel like his characters interact with each other in ways that do not represent the way real people act in real life. Not all the time, but I have felt this way with at least one central relationship in each film and it totally undermines the work for me.
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Mar 27, 2010 1:17:26 AM CDT
I am Greenberg. You are Greenberg. We are all Greenberg.
by thebearovingian
I will see this more than any other film in 2010. This will be my favorite film of the year. This film will change my life. My life-change will change the world. The world's change will change...
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Mar 27, 2010 1:22:32 AM CDT
My name is Roger, too. I also gave up on a music career.
by thebearovingian
I, too, am house-sitting for my brother in L.A. And yes, I let his stepdaughter throw a party last night. There were some very deep and moving conversations. I was these young kids' Socrates and Plato for one night.Awesome.
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I am going to be seeing this. It's like it's about me, not Ben Stiller!
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You're an asshole, supermarch
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and i am 50 yrs. old and paid $9.50
(note to self-Mumblecore sucks)
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We are curious as to why you have called 'Greenberg' the worst movie you have ever seen. Could you give some reasons and explanations as to why?
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but the James Murphy soundtrack is really good.
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Do you really believe Florence is just coming out of a long relationship, Quint? I think she merely uses that excuse to convince others and herself that she isn't as lonely as she really is. Not to mention the fact that is masks her sexual promiscuity in a society that chastises brazen female sexual liberation. Oh, and although he points this out rather obtusely, “axemurder” is right. The film boasts a pitch perfect soundtrack!
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Jul 05, 2010 3:04:45 AM CDT
I have to retract my previous statements from March 27
by thebearovingian
I finally got around to watching this movie aaannnnnnddddd... ... ... some of my previous comments were in fact exaggerations and even straight up lies. Overall, I enjoyed it. I was frustrated by certain things, too. Greenberg and Florence's relationship just comes out of nowhere. Just odd. I guess life can be that way. I would've liked a little more character development.So, basically, it didn't change my life so my life-change won't change the world and so on... I don't think I am as unlikeable as he is. Although we share some similarities, I am not Greenberg.
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