Review: Greenberg

Greenberg is one of those films that looks like it should be an indie gem of a movie like Rachel Getting Married (2008) or The Anniversary Party (2001) but in reality is a total snooze-fest and a waste of time.

The film tells the story of Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) after he’s been released from a mental hospital in New York City (which he was in due to an unexplained nervous breakdown). Currently in Los Angeles resting for a few weeks while he watches his brother’s house, Greenberg meets his brother’s much younger assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig), and is smitten by her. Unfortunately, he’s a very awkward, anxious guy and comes across as a real jerk to most people (if he was my friend I’d punch him in the face and show him the door). Florence has a lot of issues too and Greenberg just makes her feel bad about herself.

He attempts to hang out with his old friend Ivan (Rhys Ifans), who is going through a divorce with a woman that Greenberg thinks is a racist. And since Ivan doesn’t drink or do drugs anymore because of a stint in rehab, Greenberg doesn’t have much in common with him and ends up making him feel bad about himself. He tries to hang out with his ex-girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh, who also co-wrote the film) but that just blows up in his face too. With all these people not wanting to be around him you’d think Greenberg would go through a change and evolve into a functioning member of society, and that’s the main problem with the film — the characters don’t change or grow. It’s a series of many drawn-out, painfully slow scenes that just made me feel anxious while watching it.

Directed and co-written by Noah Baumbach, who did the great character-driven films Margot at the Wedding (2007) and The Squid and the Whale (2005), I expected something more along those lines. Instead, Greenberg feels like it’s trying to appeal to both the Adam Sandler crowd and the Wes Anderson crowd. It just doesn’t work. Maybe it was Stiller that was the real problem. He’s proven he can mix drama and comedy with his portrayal of Jerry Stahl in Permanent Midnight (1998), yet that could be a fluke since the only time I bought him as Greenberg was during a scene where he does a bunch of cocaine and gets crazy.

While Greenberg has a few humorous moments, and I did enjoy Gerwig in the part of Florence, the movie for the most part just disappoints.

** out of 5 stars

Rated R
Cast: Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Greta Gerwig
Directed by: Noah Baumbach
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

ALSO OPENING THIS WEEK: How to Train Your Dragon, Chloe, Hot Tub Time Machine, Neil Young Trunk Show, The Coca-Cola Case, City Island

Top image: A scene from Greenberg. Courtesy Alliance Films.