Greenberg - B

In theaters. Rated R, 107 minutes. Trailer.

I don't think it would be fun to be friends with Noah Baumbach and and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The creative duo (writer/director and actress, respectively) and real life husband and wife are responsible for depressing but occasionally funny and insightful The Squid and The Whale (B+) and the depressing and uninteresting Margot at the Wedding (B-). With Greenberg, Baumbach moves from the East Coast to the West Coast but brings his uniquely neurotic/negative viewpoint with him. Ben Stiller stars as Roger Greenberg, a negative, self-centered jerk with an inability to integrate into the world. His co-star is the soft and appealing Greta Gerwig as Florence Marr, the nice but aimless love interest of Roger. Click below for more Greenberg:

The film follows 6 weeks in Los Angeles when Greenberg is staying at his brother's house. He lived in LA 15 years before, but after he rejected a record deal and broke up his band he moved to New York and hasn't been back since. He interacts with Florence (his brother's assistant) and soon asks her out on a 'date'. After yet another awkward Baumbach oral sex scene (this time guy on girl), they sort of go out and his relationship with her and his best friend Ivan Schrank (a substantial Rhys Ifans) form the basis of the rest of the film.

The relationship with Gerwig is strange and real, although its not clear why she would see him more than the first time. Gerwig is the heart of the film, and her declaration that she doesn't know what she's doing with her life as she heads in for a very severe surgery is heartbreaking, especially given her audience at the time. Ivan and Greenberg are old friends, and Greenberg's actions regarding the band really hurt Ivan's career but he appears to have forgiven Greenberg and endures abuse and indulges Greenberg for a good portion of the film. Their relationship is well-written and interesting.

Hurt people hurt people. This truism is stated twice in the film and provides a pretty clear statement of how every interaction with Greenberg ends up for the other person. Stiller is impressive in his ability to be unlikable, unfunny and extremely self-oblivious. He uses people for rides and sex but obsesses over the details at a very lame 'party' and only appears normal or comfortable after he takes cocaine at a very odd party. His shrink has told him that he lives in the past because he was so paralyzed by neuroses when he went through it the first time he can only enjoy it in retrospect.

Baumbach has several directorial flourishes that are interesting. The opening sequence follows Gerwig in her car with a profile shot facing to the right. Other normal characters, such as Ivan, are also shown with a profile shot facing to the right, but Greenberg is always shown facing to the left, most prominently in a poorly conceived swim.

I enjoyed the brief performances of Mark Duplass as the angry former friend of Greenberg and Chris Messina (who was the only good thing in Away We Go) as Roger's normal and successful brother with no patience for Roger.

Worth your time - I have been thinking about it all day and it may move up a notch after I watch it again.