Review: Greenberg

Writer and director Noah Baumbach has become more and more esoteric with each passing film. Where his Oscar-nominated breakthrough with The Squid and the Whale was an accessible take on Woody Allen, Margot at the Wedding proved to be a bitter pill for many to swallow with its focus on Nicole Kidman’s sarcastic sister routine. With Greenberg, Baumbach turns to Ben Stiller’s (Reality Bites, Meet the Parents) Roger Greenberg, a selfish, privileged and aimless soul whose only purpose in life is to take anti-depression medications and make everyone around him feel worthless. Fresh out of the hospital, Roger housesits for his brother and must navigate the world he hasn’t experienced in a long time.

Make no mistake Roger is a completely unappealing character, and Stiller is appropriately cold as the vacant former rock star, and yet Greenberg isn’t a completely negative experience. Greenberg is a cunning exploration of Los Angeles culture and the personalities that fill the city’s sprawling borders. Cinematographer Harris Savides has captured this iconic city in a way that makes its palm tree-lined streets and hip Gen Y lifestyle a character all of its own. It recalls the films of Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson but with extra cynicism.

The cast is filled with fascinating faces too. Baumbach’s wife, and co-writer on the film, Jennifer Jason Leigh (Last Exit to Brooklyn) plays a former flame of Roger’s and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) is the best friend who still holds a grudge. The trick up the film’s sleeve, however, is Greta Gerwig. Having only appeared in ultra low budget independent films until now, Gerwig is a radiant breath of fresh air not only to Greenberg, but also to cinema as a whole. She lights up the screen effortlessly and turns this awkward love interest character into a moving and powerful presence. She is a force of nature and you will be hearing her name a lot more.

Unfortunately, the film stumbles in its later passages where Roger’s drug-addled past returns to haunt him. As good as Stiller is at times, his performance threatens to detail the picture. Stiller doesn’t cut through the barbed dialogue like Laura Linney and Nicole Kidman have in Baumbach’s previous films and by the end the film feels as hopelessly adrift as its lead character. Without that central anchor to keep an audience fascinated it makes it so much harder to forgive the film’s faults. What works really works, but is let down by factors that could have been easily fixed.

Greenberg is released 22 July

Director: Noah Baumbach

Cast: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Chris Messina

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