Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans
I kind of like movies with unlikeable protagonists...sometimes. I guess I'm saying that it doesn't bother me if the movie is interesting enough. Sometimes it just makes things unbearable. Movies like Young Adult or even Rushmore are able to grab me as a viewer despite the fact that the main characters are constantly making terrible decisions that hurt themselves and others. These movies succeed because you find yourself rooting for the main character to overcome their personal issues and take a step towards putting their lives in a better place.
Greenberg, like Baumbach's other films, doesn't really give the audience anybody to love. We're presented with real people. Damaged people. The movie really could be called "Greenberg and Florence". These are the two characters with serious issues with self-image and relationships. This isn't really a fun movie at all because Florence and Roger are unable to develop any sort of conventional rapport to comfort the audience.
This movie wallows in awkwardness. I'd call it a cringe comedy, except it really isn't all that funny. I still prefer The Squid and the Whale to this film. While this movie is about two lost people who are too insecure in themselves to reach out to anyone else in a substantial way, Squid was more grounded in the idea of a broken family. This gave that film more room for comedy to fill the gaps between the messed up psychology.
I think I like Noah Baumbach as a director more than I should. Aside from Squid (which is one of my favorite movies), I haven't really fallen in love with any of his films. I'm pretty sure I love him so much because he reminds me of Wes Anderson, someone who has yet to make a film I don't like. Both tackle the psychology of broken characters hurting each other, unable to express their honest feelings to others or themselves. However, while Baumbach presents his character studies in sparse, quiet reality; Anderson coddles the viewer with a slightly fantastical setting, meticulous visuals, and whimsical soundtracks. While Anderson's style is certainly more up my alley, Baumbach manages to keep me thinking about my own relationships and the odd characters in my own life.
Anyway, Greta Gerwig's performance was probably the best part of the movie. This makes me excited to see Baumbach's new film Frances Ha in a few days (she stars and co-writes).
Lesson learned: Duran Duran is good heroin music.
No comments:
Post a Comment