Greenberg is a fantastic film with one of the best performances of Ben Stiller’s career. Possibly the best performance of his career so far. Writer/director Noah Baumbach has such a unique and interesting vision and his films have such a sense of realism. They are simply fascinating to watch. Greenberg is a film where characters have flaws. You may even hate them at times. But no matter what, you care for these people and hope they can pull through. Baumbach knows how to tell an honest story with real characters.
Greenberg is about Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller). He is a carpenter who lives in New York, and was sent to a mental institution after having a nervous breakdown. Greenberg is out and is going to L.A. to house-sit for his brother for 6 weeks. His job is to look after the house, their dog, and to build a dog house.
Greenberg is a peculiar man who can point out everyone’s flaws but is completely oblivious to his own. He has an opinion about everything and loves to write complaint letters to companies. Also, he does not drive. He never had to in New York, but now he is practically stranded. So he relies on his brother’s assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), to drive him and so much more.
While Greenberg is in L.A., he meets his former friend and band mate, Ivan (Rhys Ifans). And we learn that Greenberg is a former musician who ruined his band’s chance of signing a record deal. And this altered the entire band’s lives. They chose different paths and just settled for less. Ivan who has a family and works on computers wanted more and the band was the answer. But it never happened. And there is a party scene where Ivan and Greenberg really tell each other what they have been thinking and living with after all these years. It gets to the truth of what Ivan thinks of Greenberg, but we finally get to hear how Greenberg feels. This scene is the defining point in the movie.
Greenberg is a film that studies people. People who are struggling in life. Characters who are trying to find out who they really are. Baumbach doesn’t sugarcoat life’s struggles and it makes for a very interesting and entertaining film. Baumbach has directed The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding. All of his films can easily be identified as his. His films are full of emotion and has a gift for blending comedy and drama together, and making his stories personal and complex. Life is not easy. Baumbach gets this.
The performances in this film are great. Great Gerwig is perfect as Florence. She plays a young, confused twenty-something girl who is lost. She just gets by and seems laid back about it all. She is easy-going and friendly, but she is deeper than that. She does not know what love is, and may not believe in it. She has had one-night stands, but never a steady relationship. She finds Greenberg interesting and perhaps even feels sorry for him. She is intrigued and keeps coming back for more.
Gerwig makes Florence likeable and sweet. She appears to be full of innocence. There is more to her but she is slow to reveal the woman she is and maybe she has not figured that out yet. Gerwig may be an unfamiliar name, but she is a talented actress that adds passion and emotion to the film. Gerwig plays Florence as a work-in-progress perfectly.
Now let’s get to Ben Stiller. This is a role that Stiller has never done before, and you may not believe that the same guy who was Zoolander could pull off a performance such as this. But he does and it is brilliant. Stiller adds depth and is restricted in many ways as Roger Greenberg, but has a new kind of freedom as well. Stiller grew his hair out and went from ripped to skin and bones. He really goes for it in this film and takes on a juicy role where he can approach this character from a direction he has never taken before.
I am not saying Stiller has never done a serious role, but he has never been as good as he is in Greenberg. Greenberg is outspoken and can come across as a real prick. At the same time, he is vulnerable and living with regret. And he is trying to be become a better man…one day at a time.
Greenberg has a tremendous cast and a one-of-a-kind director behind the camera. Who would have ever thought that Noah Baumbach and Ben Stiller would be a perfect match for each other. They are and they made one of the best films I have seen so far this year.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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