Skip to content

Nights and Weekends

Reviews of movies, books, music, and board games

Primary Menu
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Pin Posts
  • Privacy
  • Home
  • Greenberg

Greenberg

kdk March 27, 2010
0 0
Read Time:8 Second

Ben Stiller is a pretty funny guy—or at least he has been, at various points in his career. He’s a good comedic director, too (.nightsandweekends.com/articles/08/NW0800360.php>Tropic Thunder, anyone?). And now that he’s taken a dramatic turn in director Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, I can only hope that he’ll return to comedy—because this bland and pointless attempt at drama makes even his not-so-funny comedic roles seem Oscar-worthy.



In Greenberg, Stiller plays Roger Greenberg, a scruffy, socially awkward carpenter from New York who’s just been released from the mental institution where he was treated for a nervous breakdown. As a part of his quest to “do nothing for a while,” Roger heads back home to Los Angeles to housesit for his much more successful brother while he and his family are vacationing in Vietnam.



Once he’s back in LA, Roger is forced to face the past that he’s been avoiding for the last 15 years. His ex-girlfriend, Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh), now has kids of her own. And some of his old band mates are still bitter about the record deal that he rejected. But while his old friend, Ivan (Rhys Ifans), is recently separated and happy to see him, Roger prefers to spend time with his brother’s young assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), who’s the same age that he was when his life started falling apart—and the two soon begin an awkward and turbulent relationship.



Like Baumbach’s previous films (most recently, Margot at the Wedding), Greenberg is simple and stripped down. It’s quiet and awkward, and it’s populated with damaged (and often even destructive) characters that make it feel real. Still, the fact that Greenberg is real doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s interesting—or even worthwhile. Instead, it’s a dull and drab study of an almost entirely unlikeable character.



Roger Greenberg is cranky and self-obsessed. He spends his days doing little more than writing [mildly amusing] letters to complain about everything from horn-honking to coffee chains. And every time he decides to get close to someone—whether it’s Ivan or Florence—he ends up hurting them in some way. Though he occasionally considers trying to be a better person, it simply takes too much work, so he soon gives up and crawls back into his little shell. With all the abuse that the other characters consistently endure, you can’t help but wonder why they keep giving him another chance. Only his ex is smart enough to smile and politely walk away.



Greenberg is an awkward and exhausting film, filled with constantly bickering characters that you just won’t care about. You’ll find yourself hoping for some sort of point—some deep philosophy, some important message, even some kind of breakthrough—but, in the end, you’ll be left empty-handed. So just save yourself the frustration. For a more interesting study in dysfunction, see Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding instead. Or, if you’re really in the mood for a Ben Stiller movie, stick with Tropic Thunder.

Share

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

About Post Author

kdk

Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it. Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course. As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com). Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
kdk@nightsandweekends.com
http://www.NightsAndWeekends.com
Happy
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 0 %

kdk

Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.

Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.

As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).

Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.

See author's posts

Categories

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

You may have missed

Road to Perth
  • Melodrama
  • ON FILM

Road to Perth

January 7, 2022
American Siege
  • Cardiac Corner
  • Melodrama
  • ON FILM

American Siege

January 7, 2022
Good as Gold (Whatever After #14)
  • COVER TO COVER
  • Kiddie Lit
  • Listen In...

Good as Gold (Whatever After #14)

January 4, 2022
Just Haven’t Met You Yet
  • Chick Lit
  • COVER TO COVER

Just Haven’t Met You Yet

December 28, 2021

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Pin Posts
  • Privacy
Copyright © All rights reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.