Release date: 12 March, 2010
The cast: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rhys Ifans, Greta Gerwig
The pitch: A fortysomething (Stiller) moves to Los Angeles from New York to make sense of his life. While house-sitting for his brother (Mark Duplass), he falls in love with his assistant (newcomer Gerwig)
The strapline: He’s got a lot on his mind
The buzz: The fifth writer/director feature from Noah Baumbach is still firmly in the “mumblecore” genre, but updates the gloomy Manhattanite period milieu of Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding for a more freeform Californian feel. After some casting issues (both Amy Adams and Maggie Gyllenhaal were set to play Stiller’s love interest before Gerwig), the film will hit cinemas before the festival circuit – not necessarily a good sign.
Reasons this could be good: There’s a sort of Curb Your Enthusiasm feel about this trailer, (especially the scene at 1:38 where Stiller hits the car). The Squid and the Whale was terrific, but more bitter than sweet. From the evidence of this promo, Baumbach seems to have taken a more comedic approach with Greenberg than in his previous work. Done well, this could be a Sideways for the hipster set.
Reasons this could be bad: Alarm bells rang when “my dog is sick” chimed in at 1:25, though the nice little exchange right after offset some concerns that this might layer on the cheese. At first viewing this doesn’t seem to be “about” anything, other than a guy who doesn’t do much most of the time. You’d better hope Stiller’s performance makes up for the apparent lack of plot.
We think: Before his Apatovian cameos and Night at the Whatevers, Stiller made time for regular appearances on the indie circuit. Remember David O. Russell’s Flirting with Disaster and Neil LaBute’s Your Friends and Neighbours? It’s a pleasure to see that Stiller back, especially in a film that appears to utilise his comic timing for something other than CGI dinosaurs and/or 1970s TV show remakes. The only shame is that Humpday’s Duplass isn’t in this trailer.
Music: LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” of course. James Murphy composed the film’s score.
Did you spot?: Murphy making a brief Hitchcockian cameo at 0:25
Odds of you seeing it: Baumbach’s particular brand of literary dramedy is something of an acquired taste, but if you’re into indie soundtracks and midlife crises, you’ll knock yourself out.
