I’ve had the recent, immense pleasure of catching Greenberg on DVD. This would be the 3rd movie from Noah Baumbach that I’ve personally enjoyed and wouldn’t necessarily recommend to anyone that I know.
There’s an open despondence to Baumbach’s films – a haunting loneliness to his characters that always come accompanied with social awkwardness. But Baumbach handles it with such fluidity and naturalness that you not only sympathize with the character but start to realise that you’ve had these moments yourself. The discomfort at parties, not always saying the right thing, rejection, loss and general personality displacement. Baumbach successfully dislodges his characters from the fun world around them and yet always gives them an elevated sense of superiority.
And Greenberg was no different. In a role originally meant for Mark Ruffalo, Ben Stiller stepped in (Zoolander who?) and played it perfectly. He always looked so uncomfortable that all you wanted to do was give him a hug and say, “It’ll be ok”. The character was written with such forgivable flaws and yet the same time, seems like the kind of person you would write-off in your own life. Noah Baumbach does complicated very well – maybe that’s why I like his films. Here’s the trailer for Greenberg.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVcIUSpz2v0]
The first movie from Baumbach that I fell in love with was “The Squid and the Whale”. A gorgeous, earthy film – which sees the same flaws and sense of loss in Jeff Daniels – whom you both like and dislike at the same time (Baumbach’s speciality). He did the same with Nicole Kidman’s character with “Margot at the Wedding” – which is probably the only movie where I legitimately enjoyed a Jack Black performance. What I especially enjoy from Baumbach movies is that he doesn’t necessarily give you the starry Hollywood ending you crave and he never lays down “life” in black and white. Since when is real life black and white to begin with? As much as I love the people in my life, there’s ultimately some facets that bugs the shit out of me – and I’m sure they feel the same about me. But he does add the layer of slight surrealism to the characters, else you’d feel you’re watching a film about your own life, and seriously, who wants that?
So, if you’re in the mood to take mildly meandering walk through complicated, pretentious minds, I would strongly recommend Baumbach’s films.
Here’s the trailer for The Squid and the Whale and for Margot at the Wedding.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXvBFgk1jGk]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NQobRrZhvo]