Josh and Cornelia, in their early forties, find themselves becoming estranged from their best friends with their new baby, become drawn to twenty-somethings Jamie and Darby, especially when Jamie is complimentary about Josh's past documentary work (Josh is currently bogged down in a documentary he has been working on for 10 years). Jamie and Darby begin to exercise influence over Josh and Cornelia, especially when Jamie's ideas on documentary-making come to the fore.
This Noah Baumbach film, with Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, and Amanda Seyfried as the four main characters, is getting a lot of good, positive comments. I'm here to add a little lemon juice to take the edge off the overriding sweetness.
Billed and trailered as a comedy, this is another case of false advertising. I don't deny that there are some amusing moments, but this is mostly a fairly acidic drama, centering around the bromance between the principled but naive (and also driven but not naturally co-operative) Josh, and Jamie – much more aware, socially capable, but also duplicitous and self-serving while pretending not to be. Neither are particularly pleasant characters.
When the film has something to say about the difficulties associated with accepting that one is ageing, there are some decent truths on show, entertainingly delivered with some amusing social commentary.
Then there is the documentary making aspect – subplot, if you will - of the film. Baumbach is apparently on record as saying that this doesn't really matter – if so, he shouldn't have let it overpower two thirds of his movie, because one is left with the impression that it does matter. And it is not a (sub)plot which fills the viewer – this one, at any rate – with much satisfaction.
The performances are good (especially Watts), albeit Stiller gives us yet another variation on his mildly uptight, overwrought persona. But I came away feeling that this film probably delivered much more for those in front of the camera than for those in the audience.
This Noah Baumbach film, with Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, and Amanda Seyfried as the four main characters, is getting a lot of good, positive comments. I'm here to add a little lemon juice to take the edge off the overriding sweetness.
Billed and trailered as a comedy, this is another case of false advertising. I don't deny that there are some amusing moments, but this is mostly a fairly acidic drama, centering around the bromance between the principled but naive (and also driven but not naturally co-operative) Josh, and Jamie – much more aware, socially capable, but also duplicitous and self-serving while pretending not to be. Neither are particularly pleasant characters.
When the film has something to say about the difficulties associated with accepting that one is ageing, there are some decent truths on show, entertainingly delivered with some amusing social commentary.
Then there is the documentary making aspect – subplot, if you will - of the film. Baumbach is apparently on record as saying that this doesn't really matter – if so, he shouldn't have let it overpower two thirds of his movie, because one is left with the impression that it does matter. And it is not a (sub)plot which fills the viewer – this one, at any rate – with much satisfaction.
The performances are good (especially Watts), albeit Stiller gives us yet another variation on his mildly uptight, overwrought persona. But I came away feeling that this film probably delivered much more for those in front of the camera than for those in the audience.