Review: Greenberg

Greenberg
Dir. Noah Baumbach
Year: 2010
Aus Rating: M
Running Time: 107mins

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 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.

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Writing this review just made me remember, most of all, how good Nicole Kidman is in Margot at the Wedding. For all of that film's faults, it was always fascinating to watch Nicole Kidman walk that delicate tightrope walk of a performance, which is something that Ben Stiller lacks here. He's always Ben Stiller Acting Depressed and never really much more. Greta Gerwig, however, continues the Noah Baumbach train of fantastic female actor performances in his films. Note, I have not seen Kicking and Screaming, but I should try and get to that at some point.