Review of Greenberg (2010) by Jason V — 23 Sep 2011

It's important in a film to have a character the audience roots for. If the story is filled with ungrateful, unlikeable characters, the script has to work all the harder to draw the audience in. Such is the case with Greenberg, an indie movie at heart called up to play in the big leagues with a name actor in the title role.

There are moments in Greenberg where the pieces come together-such as a late scene between Ben Stiller and Rhys Ifans-but mostly it meanders from one thing to another, snaring too many actors in its clutches with no way out.

Greenberg is abrasive to such an extent I don't know why anyone would be his friend or be romantically attracted to him. Yet Greta Gerwig is supposed to, I think, lend the film indie cred, though she only gets lost in the shuffle.

I'm still wondering what the overall point is. Greenberg doesn't come to grips with his past, really; his relationship with Gerwig is at an awkward place; in short, there's no resolution. Greenberg isn't funny, though Stiller gives a powerful performance.

He's just about the only thing right with the movie.