GREENBERG (2010) (***1/2)

I heard Akira Kurasawa attributed as saying that he spent his entire career remaking the same movie in different ways. Noah Baumbach seems on the way to doing the same thing. Starting with THE SQUID AND THE WHALE and continuing in MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, he seems drawn to neurotic intellectuals, who are trapped by their own high opinion of themselves. In his first film, we related to the push and pull of the children of the neurotic intellectuals. MARGOT was more difficult to love because the characters were too neurotic for use to care about. This film seems to be a reevaluation of the same themes of MARGOT, but gives us likable characters to experience it all through.

Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller, ZERO EFFECT) is the neurotic de jour for Baumbach's third film. He's recently had a nervous breakdown and has been invited to stay at his brother's home in Los Angeles while he and his family are away on an extended vacation. Unable to really take care of himself, his brother's assistant Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL) helps him out. They end up striking up an affair despite a large age difference and the fact that Roger is a pretentious prick.

The part of one's brain that stops you from saying the worst thought you might be thinking is the part that is broken in Roger. He's the kind of guy who walks into a room and is instantly judging how he is superior to everyone else there. This attitude comes from a failed musician who makes ends meet as a carpenter. He can barely finish a dog house for his brother's family. He blows minor slights into massive insults. Such is the case with his best friend's girlfriend, who he calls a racist for some passing comment about some race at some point a decade or so ago.

He meets up with his friend Ivan (Rhys Ifans, NOTTING HILL), who has cleaned up his act and is trying to reconcile his relationship with his now "racist" wife. He approaches Roger with caution as they reconnect. They reminisce about the past and start to connect again, but old wounds surface. Roger doomed a record deal for them that forever changed all their lives. For Ivan, Roger is a sore reminder of lost opportunities and the wasted days of his youth. He's grown up, but Roger defiantly refuses to.

We see Roger through the eyes of Ivan, as well as Florence. This is key to the film's success. Without them, he would be unbearable. In MARGOT, Baumbach created a self-center egotist in its title character, but none of the supporting characters were able to put a mirror up to her face. Here Roger gets to see himself and it's not pretty. Florence is a carefree spirit looking for meaning. This is the same for Roger. It's charming in a 20-something young woman, but pathetic is a 40-something man. She feels sorry for him and treats him like a bird with a broken wing. But this bird bites. How many pecks can she withstand?

Toward the end of the film, Roger's college-aged niece shows up and throws a party. It throws new light on Roger. I've not been a big fan of movies that use drugs to loosen up their characters, but here it serves as a window into a younger Roger, one who was the life of the party, but by the end of the night became "that guy."

Like Nicole Kidman's Margot, Stiller's Roger Greenberg is so smart he's an idiot. Unlike Margot, he gains our sympathy. There is a good guy in there looking to turn his life around. Watch how awkward a lunch with his ex-girlfriend, who is played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, turns in the end. He's trying to reach out, but does so in an uncomfortable way. He's so confused he doesn't know how to act in any situation. So he blurts out whatever comes to mind. Honesty is good, but it's not always the best policy.

Cruel honesty seems to be a family trait. Roger's brother Phillip (Chris Messina, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA) isn't on screen for long, but his phone calls to Roger are amazing in their harshness. If you think Roger is a jerk, wait till you hear Phillip. No wonder Roger is so messed up.