Greenberg: Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh

107 minutes

Director: Noah Baumbach

Cast: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans,Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, Juno Temple

Theatrical Trailer Link: http://filminfocus.com/video/greenberg___the_trailer

In this drama of coming of age by over aged teenage acting people who live in the unattached world of being "afloat" or living off of others because.........the viewer is exposed to cute phrases that last no longer than the length of the film. Ben Stiller is the star and although he is appealing in a Woody Allen sort of way this appeal does not last the duration of the film

Maybe Greenberg would have been an enjoyable radio program where images would be avoided. and the power of the dialogue could have prevailed. But the dialogue is not profound, as it would have been in a Henry James novel where James compares European ways to those of New York. In Greenberg the dialogue sounds shallow, the sight of Ben Stiller gets so over done that the film is one long(too long) look at this actor Even though he has the agility of a kangaroo and seemed interesting at first in the fullness of the film's longevity, he grows less interesting, less worth the time and effort that film viewing requires.

What is striking about the film is the lack of commitment the Stiller's character, Roger Greenberg, demonstrates with his lack of interest in being a productive member of society, or a solid member of a relationship be it to his best friend or a female lover.
He takes endless abuse from those who continue to be in the regulated world of involvement because he is alive, thriving off of his wealthy brother and able to acquire thoughts of a continued existence without the down to earth understanding that without money survival for most people is not possible.

Greenberg is too wealthy, too absorbed in his life and sitting in the theater that same lack of involvement in film making seeps through. The lack of beauty in the sets, the lack of variety in the images projected on the screen, the lack of connection is irritating more than anything else.

How much time is spent on the close up of Ben Stiller? Well, whatever it is, it is too much. No one person can hold my interest for that long no matter how great an actor they might be. And maybe that is the point of the film. To show how in this world that is changing so dramatically, that is falling apart with threats of annihilation coming at us from many different fronts, Roger Greenberg can manage to create a niche for himself where he does nothing, cares about nothing, and projects nothing for himself in the days, years to come. His lack of interest/involvement is contagious.


Greenberg: What a disappointment, or is it?

Linda Zises
WBAI Women's Collective