Saturday, December 24, 2011

Greenberg

A little slow and pretty depressing, Noah Baumbach's second feature is about a man in his forties who has recently been released from a mental hospital and is now staying in his brothers home to take care of his house and dog. He eventually starts to fall for his brother's nanny/helper person. The movie has funny moment but drags for awhile at parts where you just feel awful for Ben Stiller's character. Stiller does a fantastic job as Greenberg, giving one of the better performances of his career, the movie just drags you through the muck too much without giving much hope for anything but just enough. Fans of Baumbach's "The Squid & The Whale" will likely enjoy this film but not think of it as highly. This movie is pretty clever in its story and script but not nearly as much in his previous film. Stiller is the star of this movie and is the standout of the whole thing. He gets you to like and care for this incredibly rude and selfish character that is the kind of guy you would likely call an "asshole" when running into him at a high school reunion or work party. Stiller grabs your attention and gives you insight into a character that you normally would not want insight on. He makes you want the insight and then wants he gives it to you, you begin to understand, he has feeling too, you feel sad for him and then you see a little bit of him inside of yourself.

3 out of 5 Stars

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