Released today onto DVD is the movie Greenburg – starring Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Chris Messina, Jennifer Jason Leigh and directed by Noah Baumbach.
Greenburg Synopsis: Academy Award-nominated screenwriter/director Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”) brings us the funny, touching and poignant story of two souls adrift in Los Angeles, trying to forge a connection. Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig), an aspiring singer struggling to find her place in the world, works as a personal assistant to the Greenberg family. Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) has come to L.A. to housesit for his family. He’s single, fortyish, witty, sharp-tongued – and, like Florence, something of a lost soul. Greenberg’s vulnerability immediately endears him to Florence, and what begins as a courtesy to her employer develops into a charmingly eccentric and unexpectedly significant connection. As Greenberg discovers there is only so much “nothing” you can do, the awkward beauty of what he builds with Florence starts to look more and more like a reason to be happy.
I have to admit, I was drawn to review this movie, because it stars Ben Stiller, one of my favorite comedic actors. Yet Greenburg is so far from his usual work; he plays an anti-social, self-absorbed and self-proclaimed genius. The scenes are almost awkward, and I felt myself restless in expecting more to happen. Possibly it was my mood at the time of viewing, yet I could not truly get that ‘into’ this movie. Yet, I’m not about to completely write it off at all {being a product reviewer makes me look more closely at my own opinions}, as I think this awkward feeling is the intent of the movie – maybe it’s all apart of relating to the characters and their own feelings. How else can you understand the emotions of an over medicated man who is just released from a mental hospital, without feeling that sense of lethargy yourself?
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts of you have seen this movie.
What did you think?
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