REVIEW: GREENBERG

Posted on 02 July 2010, under Dad Stuff; More Dad Stuff articles...

Seriously Stiller

Ben Stiller goes all indie and dramatic with The Squid and the Whale director at the helm.

Stiller's Greenberg is a man in his 40s recovering from a recent mental breakdown who decides to 'do nothing for a while' and housesit for this successful brother. There, he starts an awkward romance with his brothers assistant (Greta Gerwig) and restrained quirkiness ensues.

Director Noah Baumbach keeps his latest effort relatively grounded, creating a character study of a person who is almost impossible to like. Greenberg is clearly damaged but his endless self-absorption makes it's hard to root for him to get better. Likewise, Gerwig's Florence is so weak-willed and insipid; submitting to sexual advances because it's easier than saying no, that it seems like neither character has any positive forward momentum. You dread the idea of them ending up together as surely she would be utterly subsumed by his egocentric world view.

It's a considerable achievement then that Greenberg remains watchable, even if the plot is limited and the characters insufferable. Stiller has never been better and there's able support from the likes of a wonderfully restrained Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh.