Affton Film Club: 2010-04-11

Friday, April 16, 2010

Optional Film reviews

Students from the Literature through Film class can put a brief review in the comments for optional film credit. Make sure to mention title and director, discuss the main plot/chracters/conflict, and discuss what you liked or didn't like about the film. Make sure to give it a rating!

Last movie I saw...

Greenberg

Greenberg is Noah Baumbach's latest film about dysfunctional people. I skipped his last, Margot at the Wedding, but his other films, Kicking and Screaming and The Squid and the Whale, are favorites, and I've enjoyed his writing collaborations (Zissou) with Wes Anderson.

I made the mistake of seeing Greenberg on a date night with another couple. It really isn't the best movie to see with a group of people who aren't exclusively looking for a character study of a misanthropic 40-year-old that refuses to embrace responsibility. The title character does mean things to people because he feels he's been treated badly by life. The film's mantra, espoused by more than one character, is "hurt people, hurt people" and certainly this fits Greenberg. Ben Stiller turns in perhaps the best performance of his career and Greta Gerwig, playing the woman who is desperate enough to tolerate Greenberg's erratic behavior, is a real find.

If the movie has an intended audience, it seems to be people, or those who know people who can't transition from twenty-somethings to adulthood well. Does it get across its message effectively? Sure, the final act where Greenberg, at emotional rock-bottom, gets high at a college-age party and starts spouting out brilliant lines condemning the newest generation and inadvertently himself, bears his soul to the only friend who hasn't alienated, and finally makes the first steps toward allowing himself let go of the insufferable jerk he's found comfort in being for much of his life.

If you like character studies this is a good one. Subtle and challenging, if you at any way identify or can identify those like the title character, the slice of Greenberg's life that we get will stick with you. Stay away if the sober, soul-searching exploits of a stalled individual who keeps sabotaging his own happiness doesn't sound like a good use of an ninety minutes. Three-and-a-half Cougar Heads (one if this genre of film is foreign to you).

Friday, April 16, 2010

Optional Film reviews

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