Review of Greenberg (2010) by Shawn B — 07 Sep 2010

Baumbach's trademark flawed hero lies at the center of Greenberg, which also happens to be the character's name(played brilliantly by Ben Stiller). With great use of metaphor and a perfect mixture of tragic and comic, Baumbach is able to deliver a film that hits all the right notes at the right moments. I really felt for Greenberg, despite his douchey-ness. it was very reminiscent of a film that I have read both Baumbach and Wes Anderson citing as their main influence, The Graduate, Greenberg is somewhat of a Benjamin Braddock of today, because in the 60's people had these types of existential crisis' in their 20's, now it often happens in our 40's with a prolonged period of adolescent behavior or arrested development.

Anyway, Baumbach hasn't crafted a masterpiece that seems to roll on all cylinders, as I think he did with The Squid and The Whale, he is maturing as a director, which is strange to say when saying an earlier film is a masterpiece, but that was a film that excelled despite maturity, this is a film that excels due to maturity.