Review of Greenberg (2010) by Bigmoneybruce . — 09 Sep 2010

This is smart, intelligent, and well made and it sickens me that no one sees it.

This movie feels like an introduction getting us ready for a sequel, but you know it's not going to happen. This may aggravate you, but when you look past the fact that it ends close to the way it started, you see that ending any other way would be unrealistic and a foolish choice. This was a hard film to maneuver, and I feel it was very well directed. I can see why people wouldn't like this film or any of it's type, mostly because a majority of people are *****ing idiots and have no soul. Most people are looking for a studio film. If you think this is going to be good because Ben Stiller is in it, DO NOT see it. Yes, Ben Stiller is my favorite actor, but what urged me to see this movie was how I can relate to the character he played. I am glad he is in this movie for two reasons:

1. He is the reason I found out about this movie. I frequently check his filmography for upcoming films, and I had been waiting for this film for a long time. If he wasn't in this film I wouldn't have found out about it until I checked Noah Baumbach's filmography.

2. It is interesting to watch a great who actor who usually participates in studio films adapt to an independent film. I don't know if it had to with personal matters in Ben Stiller's life that encouraged him to do this movie, or he just wanted to try something new, but he did a hell of a job.

Getting back to me relating to this movie, that is one of the things that helped me notice and catch more details than other people. Here are a few examples:

In one scene it shows Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) waiting to cross the street, he pulls his shirt over his hand before pushing the Placebo Button. This is a sign of him having OCD and Mysophobia. Other scenes in the movie that prove this are when he had just hooked up with Florence Marr, (Gretta Gerwig) he freaked out because he thought he saw a cold sore on her lips, and when he is getting wasted and baked with the teenagers, he is a little hesitant to letting one of the girls give him a massage. He also asks the veterinarian if there was a possibility of him catching the disease from the dog.

Another detail that I noticed is that after hooking up with Florence he started yelling at her. Audiences might just think he's crazy, but I noticed he does this a few times, and he does it when he starts getting uncomfortable or just at random times. This makes me realize that the character of Roger Greenberg has Bipolar disorder (formerly known as Manic Depression). He also freaks out when he is brought the cake by the waiters on his birthday in the restaurant. He doesn't want to be flashy and given things in life like every other person in life. I liked that a lot. Another sign of him being Bipolar disorder is when he is explaining to Florence that he couldn't move his legs for a while, and it was all psychological. I could be wrong but that happens to me sometimes, I think it has something to do with when someone has Bipolar disorder they have uncontrollable bone movements. And it's all psychological that you think to yourself that you can't move your legs, and you really can't move them. What I'm about to say isn't a scientific fact, it's all personal, but I feel when someone has Bipolar disorder and the uncontrollable bone movements occur it is sometimes that person sort of switching personalities without them knowing. If that little theory of mine is true then maybe Roger Greenberg didn't want to move his legs because he didn't want to go crazy or shake. That is just me thinking outside the box, it may be a big farfetched, so let's stick to the fact that it's all psychological. I can stick with that fact because I know it's true from experiencing it.

The only martially unrealistic aspect of this film in my opinion is something Florence says on the beginning, and how she acts about certain situations throughout the movie. In the beginning of the movie, the night after Greenberg freaks out and leaves Florence's apartment, Florence explains to her friend that she understands him, and that she thinks he still cares. The reason I find this a bit unrealistic is because no woman can understand someone like that unless they have a PHD in psychiatry. I know this because I've been in certain situations where I have acted certain ways with girls that I am very close with expecting to understand me, expecting them to know what's going through my mind, and they didn't. Most females are like Florence's friend Gina in the movie. Gina was saying that Florence shouldn't forgive Greenberg because he was mean and disrespectful. That's all she thought about. She didn't think that he had recently been in a mental institution. I guess I may be wrong about it being unrealistic because I don't know that there aren't females out there like Florence. I'm just saying that based on my experience based on females that I thought understood me. So this shows that Florence is a very unique character, and very understanding.

The whole film you want to know the story behind Roger Greenberg being in a mental institution, but as the movie goes along you will start to see why he was there in the first place. The character's true self really starts to show.

Overall this is an amazing movie, and most people will hate it because they aren't thinking and are looking for something hollywood-like since Ben Stiller is in it. If you've actually put in the thought to this movie that I have, understood every aspect of it, and still didn't like it, then I accept your opinion. Otherwise don't give a movie bad reviews because it was too deep and sophisticated for you, and the plot wasn't spoon-fed to you.