“Greenberg” Review

Writer/Director Noah Baumbach gives us another naturalist comedy about dysfunctional relationships with Greenberg, which follows in the familiar footsteps of his previous efforts The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding.

The film stars Ben Stiller, in a notably restrained role, as a just-released psychiatric patient who spends a month house sitting for his brother who’s out of the country. Stiller soon meets his brother’s assistant played by indie film darling Greta Gerwig and they begin an unlikely and unhealthy relationship.

The successful element of Baumbach’s work is the way he finesses laughs from awkward and sad situations which this film accomplishes confidently. But there’s also a distinct cringe factor as Ben Stiller’s character is unaware of acceptable social behavior. It’s this car crash onlooker vibe that creates scenes full of emotional ups and downs.

Strangely enough this film is much smaller and intimate then Baumbach’s previous films, taking it’s time to explore the awkward relationship of two awkward people. I do challenge any man to watch this film and not fall in love with the adorable Greta Gerwig. This is her first mainstream role and I hope she gets more work along these lines as it’s her unassuming portrayal of Florence Marr that helps ground the superstar aura of Ben Stiller.

Greenberg is a film that I liked, but not loved. If you want to get introduced to Baumbach’s work I suggest seeing The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding first, but Greenberg is a worthy entry in his filmography of dysfunctional character studies.

See and hear my full review of Greenberg on Episode 4 of This Week in Movies by subscribing to it on iTunes.

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