Opening 1 Apr 2010
Directed by:
Noah Baumbach
Writing credits:
Noah Baumbach, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Principal actors:
Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Chris Messina, Susan Traylor
Carpenter and former rock musician Roger Greenberg (Ben
Stiller) is forty and presently a house sitter in Los Angeles for his brother Phillip, who went to
Viet Nam on business. Unfortunately, Phillip allowed
the neighbors to swim in his pool while he was away. Also,
his grown daughter thinks nothing of dropping in on her way through town and
holding a huge party in the house. However, these irritations are minor
compared to Roger’s real problems: he is totally self-absorbed and blind to his
own responsibility in his miserable little life. Once in town, he contacts old
friends, e.g., Ivan, (played by British actor Rhys Ifans) to little avail. Either they
no longer have any common interests or their memories of Roger are unfortunate.
They have grown up and moved on, contrary to Roger, who seems to have stood
still at age thirteen. One person willing to
put up with him is Florence (Greta Gerwig). She has the run of the
house since she is a sort of nanny and household help for the brother’s family.
She agrees to chauffeur Roger around town, since, as a New Yorker and occasional
alcoholic, he has no driver’s license. Florence is younger – only 25 – but also an
unhappy loner who tries to please everyone. Sometimes she takes a stand, but
mostly she is overly solicitous. So here we have these two outsiders – losers
if you may – who, thrown together, attempt to interact on behalf of their own
feelings, on behalf of the sick dog, on behalf of sex (as a failed attempt
between the two of them and as an abortion due to a prior relationship).
I agree
with my colleague Osanna Vaughn who said, “Halfway through the film I realized
that this is not a comedy.” It’s not even amusing or sarcastic or full of black
humor as director Noah Baumbach would have us believe. It’s
just sad, and in the end, we hope that Roger will go back to New York City and make other people’s lives
miserable. We wish a new beginning for Florence, which would include stability and a
nice, dependable boyfriend. Together, Florence and Roger are an impossible
catastrophe – which is okay as long as we don’t have to watch them
self-destruct.
Noah Baumbach not only directed but also wrote the script. He has been successful in the past with independent films such as Margot at the Wedding and The Squid and the Whale, which also deal
with the woes of interrelationships and families. He has worked with Wes
Andersen and written scripts for such good films as The Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Life Aquatic with
Steve Zissou. The highlight of Greenberg is young actress Greta Gerwig, whom some of you might have seen in the film Baghead which
played at the 2009 Filmfest Hamburg in October. Viewers familiar with Hollywood and West Hollywood might recognize some of the sites.
For some strange reason Greenberg was in competition at the 2010 Berlinale film festival, but it had no chance of winning. (Becky Tan)
