Ben Stiller takes a turn for the more dramatic, and I like when he does that.
In writer-director Noah Baumbach’s latest, he plays Roger Greenberg, a former musician in his early forties housesitting for his brother in L.A.
Roger recently completed a stay at a mental facility and he’s a little on edge.
That doesn’t stop him from starting a somewhat dysfunctional relationship with Florence (Greta Gerwig), his brother’s assistant.
Stiller gets to gnash his dramatic teeth quite a bit here, including some rather authentic and fierce temper tantrums.
The script isn’t as good as his performance, but he and Gerwig make it worth watching.
Jennifer Jason Leigh costars as a somewhat anxious ex-girlfriend, and Rhys Ifans shows up as a former band member who tries his best to remain friends with the man who derailed his career.
It’s another decent human study from Baumbach, and another reason to believe Stiller has greater things in store for him besides getting smacked in the face by monkeys or routinely insulted by Robert De Niro. [Read full story]