Review: Greenberg

I guess it means something that while watching this film, the latest by hyper intelligent director Noah Baumbach(The Squid and the Whale), that I wanted to leap through the movie screen and rescue poor Florence(Greta Gerwig) from the unstable clutches of Roger Greenberg(Ben Stiller).  Greenberg is the sort of guy who hates everything, whether it affects his life in any conceivable way of not. The worst part is that he's also the sort who doesn't recognize this fact about himself. He fancies himself the funniest, smartest guy everybody else knows. It takes a special brand of conceit to think things like that.

He's 40 years old. An unemployed carpenter who's just been released from a mental hospital, although clearly he's not "crazy". Maybe he's just fatigued. That's the excuse nowadays, right? With little direction in his life, Greenberg goes to LA to house sit for his brother, who's away on business. Somebody's gotta take care of the dogs.

Unfortunately, Greenberg ain't that guy. That's where Florence comes in. She's an assistant to Greenberg's brother, running errands and walking the dogs. She has the type of beauty that sneaks up on you. I didn't think much of her at first, but by the end...like I said, I was ready to leap through the screen. She's also experiencing a loss of dirction in her life, having been out of college for a few years but never gaining a foothold in the job market. She's smart, but not too smart, and far too trusting and easy going.

Her relationship with Greenberg....let's just say it starts rather suddenly, after he asks her out on a date on a whim. It goes further than it should. She's clearly more confident in herself with someone in her life. He doesn't know how to exist as part of a couple, and at his age that isn't likely to change. Always angry at something and unable to channel it, he lashes out at the people closest to him. His old friends(including the always entertaining Rhys Ifans) look at him with suspicion now, bordering on hatred.

Greenberg is one of those movies that is both funny and a little bit sad. There are some brilliantly insightful moments, particularly in one scene between Greenberg and a former flame(played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who co-wrote the script as well). She's separated from her husband, and out of what seems to be pity, agrees to meet Greenberg for a drink, which turns out to be a disaster. The problem is, he doesn't seem to notice it, so wrapped up in himself that he can't see the uninterested look in her eyes. The look that says "Oh God get me outta here!" I know that look well. 

Stiller, who has a knack for always taking a mildly amusing joke one notch too far, is very good. He more than succeeded in making me dislike Greenberg with a passion. Whether or not that was his goal is another story. It's Greta Gerwig who is the revelation here. A veteran of the "mumblecore" indie film movement, she brings a realness, a natural quality that is so endearing. Her character has flaws, some internal and some external, and it's so refreshing.

Noah Baumbach is so good at presenting whip smart, brilliant people who are too wrapped up in their own intelligence to care about actual feelings. That's Greenberg in a nutshell. However what Baumbach doesn't do is create a rational reason why these two people would ever be together in the first place. I'm all for unusual relationships overcoming the odds to live happily ever after, but it has to make sense. Greenberg is such an unlikable person(think Harvey Pikar minus the charm), and he never really reaches any sort of epiphany that would change him for the better.

She desperately just needs someone to rescue her. I think I know the guy for the job....