Review of Greenberg (2010) by Sreedhar K — 30 Mar 2011
Can anyone out do Woody Allen in his practice of 'modern art' - his form of cinema that churns out over-the-top movies about human relationships? Yes, director Noah Baumbach shows us just how with his critically acclaimed 'Greenberg'.
The canvas here is not New York, but LA with a visitor (Ben Stiller) from New York who 'does nothing but is cool about everything'. He is imbalanced too. He bumps into a house-sitter (Greta Gerwig) who has more detachment with the happenings in her life than we do as people watching her character.
It is unsettling in the beginning, but if you give Mr Baumbach the license to just throw stuff at the canvas and see what sticks, some of the results end up having rather tender moments and an appeal of their own, as the two unlikely characters begin to care for each other and find out that 'hurt people hurt people'.
If making it was an experiment by design, watching it could be another, if you don't give up too soon and start looking at it as an essay on psychology. It tries to say something, albeit awkwardly and with artificial characters.
This review of Greenberg (2010) was written by Sreedhar K on 30 Mar 2011.
Greenberg has generally received mixed reviews.
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