GREENBERG - Blu-ray review

There are times when I watch a film and I simply cannot stand the main character to the point that it causes me to not enjoy the film. The Noah Baumbach directed "Greenberg" is one such film and during the entire running length of the film I just wanted to smack Ben Stiller's title character Roger Greenberg in the head and tell him to either wake up or piss off. I understood that Roger had suffered a nervous breakdown and that he wasn't entirely with it, but I found his behavior to be unforgiving and unentertaining. I can get behind a drama about a down-on-his luck character, but Roger Greenberg was so anal and so mean spirited that I could hardly laugh at his antics and felt only inclined to want to kick his arse. When I feel this much hate watching a movie, I can hardly call it enjoyable.

This isn't a knock on funnyman Ben Stiller. He is very good and very convincing as Roger. Sure, he looks like Ted Danson after a death-threatening crack addiction, but Stiller plays it straight in this film and I maybe laughed once or twice in result of his character. I'm not sure if Stiller is trying to pull a Jim Carrey and diversify with a few dramatic roles, but that didn't go over too well for the talented Carrey and while Stiller can be given a few kudos for starring in a low-budget independent film; he isn't going to get a lot of attention for this role.

The lovely Greta Gerwig makes her cinematic debut as a leading woman in "Greenberg" and it is for her and her character Florence that I feel sorrow towards. Gerwig's performance is quite good, but she is caught in a vicious circle of feeling sorry for Roger and having romantic feelings for him. I can't quite understand why she would have said feelings, but there wouldn't be much of a story and very little value in watching the film without this love story. Beyond pity, the film never gives much reason why the far younger Florence would want anything to do with the mean-spirited and cruel Roger.

One of my favorite supporting actors has a role in "Greenberg" and Rhys Ifans shows he can play it straight as well as the former bandmate and friend of Roger. Ivan was the former lead guitarist for a band that Roger ruined after college when he turned down a record deal. Ivan sticks by his former friend, although he is frustrated at Roger and dislikes the fact that Roger is against him repairing a broken marriage to his Brazilian wife. Ivan tries to help Roger as much as he can, but even small little ‘normalcies' are rejected by the angry and bitter Roger. While Ifans isn't commanding the screen with wonderful silliness, he plays the aging British Ivan brilliantly.

"Hurt people hurt people" is spoken by Florence in the film and this describes the plot well as Roger is house-sitting for his brother. Roger had been a carpenter in New York and his brother asks him to build a dog house while staying in Los Angeles. Roger is lost after his breakdown and decides he simply wants to do nothing; other than to reconnect with an ex-girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh) that is now married with children. Florence is the assistant of Roger's brother and their relationship is unusual from the very moment when Roger first comes to see her in a ‘date' that goes rather unusually and badly. She helps drive him around and also helps tend to Roger's brother's sick dog, but she is always treated badly and hurt.

After a drug-fueled party with his niece, Roger finally begins to think rationally and in the closing few minutes, he is given a small sense of redemption with Florence. The movie abruptly ends and while it teases me with the notion that Roger has finally woken up, I'm so far removed from caring that something good happens to Stiller's character that I am almost unhappy that Florence didn't go and find something better. The performances in this film are good and the story isn't necessarily bad. It's just that I dislike the main character and my disdain for him makes it difficult to enjoy "Greenberg." When I sit down to watch a movie, I want to be entertained. I don't want to be made to feel like I want to punch somebody in the face. Had the movie been more about Florence and she had finally punched him in the end and proudly walked towards a better future, I would have been onboard, but that didn't happen.

While I didn't like the film, I will agree that it is a solid piece of filmmaking and does offer a very good look at the kind of people we want to avoid in our everyday lives. There are people out there like Roger and they do need help. Maybe I'm being a little insensitive, but the filmmakers didn't exactly offer much reason to like Roger and only a brief mention of him making a bed for an ex-girlfriend gave any hint of former normalcy. I got the impression he was always a bit of an ass and could never find much sympathy and if the intent was to shed light on people with this type of emotional and mental disorder, then the time would have been better served trying to get Roger some help.

"Greenberg" is a dramatic comedy that lacks humor. It's well directed and well acted. Ben Stiller shows he can pull off a role where he isn't asked to be silly and this film is a far cry from "There's Something About Mary." At just over 100 minutes in length, I found "Greenberg" to be a slow moving picture that is intelligent, but at times feels like it wants to be more intelligent than any of its audience. There is an audience for this kind of film and I suppose I will mention that I am happy I was given the opportunity to watch it. However, I doubt I will ever watch the film again on my own accord and I would strongly recommend a rental over a purchase any day. This is a movie where waiting for it to be on cable isn't the worst idea either.

Video:

I was very unimpressed with the visual presentation of "Greenberg" and felt the hazy visuals were more akin to a decent DVD release than a high definition Blu-ray release. The 2.35:1 film takes place in sunny California, where you think the smog problem of Los Angeles has taken over. Close up details are not quite there and even the lighting comes across as murky. This is a depressing film to watch and even the visuals help cement that feeling. This is a case where an independent film looks the part and "Greenberg" suffers from not utilizing the big expensive cameras that allows a high definition format like Blu-ray to really impress. There isn't a lot in the film that I would want to gawk at for long periods of time and the best looking part of the film is clearly Greta Gerwig.

Audio:

Low. Budget. Comedy. Drama. Those four words are typically not synonymous with a dynamic audio mix and "Greenberg" doesn't break from the norm with a front-heavy mix that is clean and tame. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix does feature some decent moments audibly when a busy road is shown in Los Angeles, but most of the locations are sparsely populated and the vast majority of the film features less than a handful of people interacting. Even the singing scene where Florence takes part in open mic night is quiet. The only big noisy moment is a party at Roger's brother's house and that is still less than impressive. The mix is clean and that is what matters most in a film of this nature. Especially the dialogue and you can understand every big and nasty word uttered by Roger in contempt for humanity and society.

Extras:

Universal tosses in nearly every promotional bell and whistle for "Greenberg" without supplying a lot of actual value-added content. The disc includes Pocket-Blu for using your iPhone or other device as a remote control and to take some bonus content with you. This is best used to utilize the virtual keyboard for sharing your comments through Social Blu social networking connectivity. The "What's New" menu provides access to the BD-Live Center through a Profile 2.0 cpapable machine. My Scenes and the Ticker are also thrown in. These are functions that are unique, but are more an extension of the actual technology and doesn't necessarily relate to the disc.

After the disc boots with promotions for a few Universal titles including the peculiar trailer for the upcoming Matt Damon film "The Adjustment Bureau," there are three actual pieces of bonus content. A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Greenberg (3:24) begins the offerings and this is your typical EPK style promotional production that has interviews and some minor making-of footage regarding the film, but it is extremely short and doesn't necessarily get into anything. Greenberg Loves Los Angeles (2:08) is another short promo clip for the film features Baumbach talking about shooting L.A. Noah Baumbach Takes a Novel Approach (1:32) is the third part of the making of feature that clocks in at less than seven minutes of total length.

Closing:

"Greenberg" is depressing and while I watched the film, my feelings were that I wanted to beat the snot out of the main character because he annoyed me to no end and absolutely did not deserve the affections of the film's love interest. To put it kindly, Roger Greenberg is an absolute jerk and you never can feel sympathetic for the character. A nervous breakdown is not excuse enough for his constant harsh treatment of those that care for him. The guy is a loser and while I won't declare "Greenberg" a loser, I can hardly consider it a winner. This is definitely a watch once film. You won't want to watch it a second time. The Focus Features production looks and sounds low budget and the thin supplements hardly make up for the film's low entertainment value. Some may find entertainment in watching a jerk like Roger. I found it painful and the movie just made me feel angry.