Greenberg movie review - Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans & Noah Baumbach

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Greenberg film review - Holden Caulfield's mid life crisis

Noah Baumbach's Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller

Greenburg is a film that gives Ben Stiller more depth as an actor than he has ever experienced. A complicated character, a sophisticated storyline and not much in the way of action makes it a big departure from the usual comedy outing that he's well known for.

Greenburg is the story of Roger Greenberg as he returns to L.A. to look after his brother's house following a brief spell in a mental institute getting over a psychosomatic delusion that his legs no longer work. His return home to LA introduces Greenberg's neurosis to his brother's assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig) and brings him back in touch with old friends (including Ivan, played brilliantly by Rhys Ifans, who I just saw in Paddington Train Station, but thought I’d probably sound like a twot if I told him about the review) from the band he nearly made it with when he was young, but messed up after he ruined the record deal that they had been offered.

There's a lot to empathise with the central characters of the plot - holding on to friendship, chasing lost love, dreams that feel so close, the inevitable tock of time, awkward new relationships - but it's the subtle comedy that won me over completely. There aren't many jokes as such, but the character interaction is wit incarnate. It's also got one of the best lines I've heard in a while, "life is wasted on people".

Geenburg is a funny slice of a different life that definitely won't be to everyone's taste. However, a bit like Holden Caulfield in his forties, Greenburg will pull a lot of you into his fractured, beautiful, freakish neurosis.

4.2/5