Mumblecore cinema attempted to break through earlier this year with the indie drama “Greenberg.”
It’s safe to say the trend – marked by tiny budgets and seemingly unscripted dialog – didn’t click with audiences despite Ben Stiller taking on the title role.
The film, out on Blu-ray and DVD July 13, gives the actor one of his most audacious roles to date.
He aces it, but it’s still a burden to endure.
It takes a nuanced film to make us care for emotionally damaged characters, especially ones who spend copious screen time being hateful or cruel.
“Greenberg” leaves a mostly sour aftertaste, and the sense that a more satisfying film remains a few drafts away.
Stiller plays Roger Greenberg, an ex-musician recently released from a mental hospital. He gets a gig watching his brother’s house in L.A., but it’s merely an excuse to keep him occupied while he emotionally reboots.
Greenberg busies himself with carpentry assignments for his brother and writing scathing letters to anyone who crossed him. Starbucks. Inefficent airlines. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
His sense of inertia is rocked by Florence (Mumblecore queen Gerta Gerwig), his brother’s personal assistant tasked with checking up on him from time to time.
They fall into a herky-jerky romance, and while she’s damaged enough to fall for virtually any suitor, he doesn’t want a relationship. Or is love precisely what he needs?
“Greenberg” feels far too precious in its first half, focusing on the main character’s eccentricities and Florence’s rickety sense of self.
Heck, even naming a young woman “Florence” feels like a hipster joke.
Stiller has the unenviable task of making Greenberg worth our pity. At his best, he’s a soulful jerk, but he routinely lashes out at those trying to connect with him.
A party sequence late in the film catches us by surprise and hints at how “Greenberg” could have salvaged its difficult story. Rather than turn the moment into another Greenberg meltdown, director Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”) uses the sequence to bring the main character’s relationship with his ex-band mate (Rhys Ifans) to an emotionally satisfying conclusion.
“Greenberg” gives Stiller a bravura showcase beyond his “Museum” romps, and he proves equal to the tast. The same can’t be said of Baumbach’s film, an uneasy blend of indie romance and black comedy that alienates more than it draws us in.
The Blu-ray extras can’t help but disappoint. “A Behind the Scenes Look at “Greenberg” feels like a bloated trailer, while “Greenberg Loves Los Angeles”gives us a too-brief look at how filmmaker Noah Baumbach captured the City of Angels on film. And “Greenberg: Noah Baumbach Takes a Novel Approach” is so short it only scratches the surface of what an intriguing filmmaker has to say about translating fiction to the big screen.
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