Review of Greenberg (2010) by Joel M — 22 Dec 2010

Writer-Director Noah Baumbach has always had the knack to develop imaginative dialogue-oriented independent movies about dysfunctional characters struggling to survive in a society filled with set or unset norms derived from standard civilization in the modern era. His latest Baumbachism creation is "Greenberg" starring Ben Stiller as Roger Greenberg, a self-centered unkind carpenter/former musician who returns to his home state of California to housesit his brother's house while his brother's family is in vacation to Vietnam. Did you Roger that? In going back to Cali, Roger reunites with some of his old mates including his former best friend Ivan, who was also in a band with Roger in the past. Ivan is a mild-mannered simpleton who is going through a difficult separation from his wife, even though that does not hit any of Roger's worrying & supportive bones. However, "Greenberg" fixates more on Roger's new encounters in California; primarily Florence, Roger brother's assistant who takes a liking to Roger even though he shoots plenty of insults her way. Florence is not exactly Roger's nightingale but he does have "on & off" feelings for her. You see Roger is not easy. He gets over his semi-OCD head by worrying about the most mundane and insignificance of many things of life, and he is most proud of "doing nothing for the meanwhile". There are times that the "Greenberg" movie itself "does nothing for the meanwhile" with its various uneventful sequences, but that is part of Noah's ark in drawing us into the quirkiness of the narrative. "Greenberg" has that prototype independent flavor that is not for everybody's cinematic taste, so be warned. However, Baumbach injects "Greenberg" with present & retro pop culture, unpredictability, depression, non-regret, irritability, mean-spiritedness, pet nurturing, and much more; definitely a diverse melting pot that worked very well for "Greenberg". Ben Stiller's leading performance as the title character is clearly the best performance of his career. Stiller proves that his thespian range makes him one talented "focker". Newcomer Greta Gerwig was great as Florence in a performance that will flourish her career. The underrated Rhys Ifans was not terrible at all as Ivan. And Jennifer Jason Leigh was solid as Roger's ex-girlfriend Beth. But I am still sold on Stiller as being the best performance of the movie. So even though it is for an acquired taste, I challenge you to spend a little green and check out "Greenberg".

***** Excellent.