Review of Greenberg (2010) by Dave C — 10 Mar 2011

There is a real danger with Greenberg in having some viewers leave feeling like the film really went nowhere. And that is unfortunate, possibly due in part to the draw of Stiller to a particular brand of comedy. This is not his stereotypical role.

I will admit that the directing itself could be a love it or hate it end product. It carries a real indie feel and pays very little heed to the audience with its pacing and its sort of confusing and sort of anti climatic dealings with the ending and intro (and I suppose the middle if we want to go that far). However, what the script does is leave room for the actors to breathe. And boy do they breathe. For me, the two main actors were definitely the most intriguing part of the film.

There is something incredibly authentic and organic about both Stiller's and Gerwig's performance. Stiller plays the character of Roger Greenberg with such a convincing sense of dysfunction that you literally want to reach in and give his character a shake and a hug at the same time. And Gerwig plays an equally emotionally conflicted character in her own right. Between the two of them each of them are given equal amount of time to really kind of sit in their roles on screen, and when they do come together the charisma and authenticity is absolutely great.

Whether the film bogs down or not, and whether you appreciate its direction, the performances are good enough to speak beyond that.