Review of Greenberg (2010) by Mayra M — 10 May 2011

As basically everyone else who saw Greenberg I was very pleased with Ben Stiller in his odd and bipolar portrayal of Roger Greenberg, a man who is house sitting for his brother who has taken his family to Vietnam on vacation.

Greenberg starts an unusual and emotionally chaotic romance with the family help who has been told to help Roger throughout the duration of his stay. The teeth gritting scenes when Ben Stiller explodes with psychotic frustration is only one way we see inside the mind of an unstable man trying to restore balance in his life, the others come from his romance with Florence (the help) and his rekindled friendship with his ex-bandmate Ivan.

The most captivating scene is when Greenberg's twenty-something year old niece throws a party and Greenberg takes drugs and expresses his feelings and insight of the younger generation and later leaves a personal message on Florence's phone.

If you are looking for typical Stiller humor this is no place to look, but if you want to see Ben Stiller really show his range as an actor I highly suggest this as a watch. You won't come out of this one extremely satisfied, but I do feel like there is a strong message that can be useful to some.