That trailer is bad. It makes it seem like this film is a quirky romantic comedy when in reality it’s a quirky look on how hipsters live in New York City. Seriously, next time you’re in a Starbucks in NYC and there are a bunch of 27 year olds with fedoras, really long tank tops, and Buddy Holly glasses on, just listen to what they’re talking about. If they’re talking about movies, they’ll be talking about this. And you know what? I didn’t dislike the movie. I thought it was a modern day Woody Allen classic that isn’t going to turn into a classic. It’s official, Greta Gerwig is the new indie queen. I’m calling it right now. She’s going to be in every little indie movie from now until she fades away. She was actually pretty great in this. At least she can act. The film was directed by Noah Baumbach and succeeded in getting me not to hate it. I hated his first two films. Greenberg was just flat out annoying but it had a lot to do with Ben Stiller’s infuriating character that he does which I call “whiney jewish guy”. The Squid and the Whale was just awkward. I mean there’s a scene where a ten year old smears semen on a bookshelf in school. Strange shit. No thank you. I saw the film at the IFC Center in New York City with three other 50 year old dudes. One left in the middle, one had headphones in blasting Italian opera the whole time, and one was actually watching the movie. It was a weird little experience but the IFC Center was awesome so I can’t complain. By all means if you like Woody Allen which I do then check out this film sometime. Baumbach even filmed it in black and white. Totally old school. 3/5
Good review Joe. It actually makes you happy to live life to the fullest and never get down on yourself too much because we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and we all get caught up in the stupid stuff. So why linger on it?