Cinema Nova, 08/04/2010
Status: Behind, but coming around to being okay about it.
Do you have a friend that’s super whiny, really needy, always asking for favors and yelling at you when you deliver them? No, neither do I. Because they would be intolerable. The titular protagonist of Greenberg is such an arsehole. But he seems to have friends aplenty. Even a lovely young lass who wants to sleep with him. Well, movies are about nothing if not suspending your disbelief, eh?
Writer/director NOAH BAUMBACH is one for two for me: The Squid and the Whale? Loved it. Margot at the Wedding? Hated it. So Greenberg could have gone either way. Thankfully , I found it more on the Squid side than the Margot.
The dialogue is sharp, the characters interesting (if repugnant) and the editing and direction work well together to set a slightly uncomfortable tone to the everyday. In general, the performances are very good (especially GRETA GERWING as the aforementioned lovely young lass).
I can’t help but feel that I could have liked the film more if I’d liked Greenberg (the character) more. But BEN STILLER (Tropic Thunder, Zoolander) is not a subtle actor, so Greenberg is not a nuanced character. In the hands of someone with a less well-known schtick (or better yet, no schtick at all) Greenberg (and Greenberg) could have been an entirely different - and much more satisfying - beast.
(Note to Melbournites: I think Greenberg is being released at mainstream cinemas later in May, but at the moment you can catch it in a double feature with A Serious Man (two films for the price of one) at Cinema Nova. And A Serious Man is well worth seeing if you haven’t already.)
