I have to admit that I don’t like the trailer for Greenberg, the new film from Noah Baumbach, a filmmaker I greatly admire. There’s a level of cutesy quirkiness that irks me, and the song in the trailer – either from the Strokes or the lead singer of the Strokes (oops, it’s from LCD Soundsystem, and it still fucking stinks) – irritates. There’s some stuff in this trailer that says Baumbach to me and a lot more that doesn’t.
But I’m giving Baumbach the benefit of the doubt. Kicking and Screaming and The Squid and the Whale more than earned that, and I think even the flawed Margot at the Wedding is worthy. And the concept here – what ever happened to the slacker from 90s indie movies? – is kind of interesting. On top of that I really like Greta Gerwig, who stars opposite Ben Stiller, and I like seeing Ben Stiller get back into the indie movie thing.
You can see the trailer at Apple and make up your own mind. I remain optimistic about this film until I can see something more than a trailer aimed at the Urban Outfitters crowd.
Compare Greenberg to A Serious Man as movies about Jews on our message boards!