Greenberg (film)
Encyclopedia
Greenberg is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach is an American writer, director and independent filmmaker.-Background and education:Baumbach was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of novelist/film critic Jonathan Baumbach and Village Voice critic Georgia Brown. He graduated from Brooklyn's Midwood High School in 1987 and ...

. The film stars Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....

, Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig
Greta Celeste Gerwig is an American actress and filmmaker. Gerwig first came to prominence through her association with the mumblecore film movement...

, Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed Parry in Enduring Love and as a member of the Welsh rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly...

 and Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...

. Greenberg is produced by Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....

 and Scott Rudin Productions, and distributed by Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....

.

The film's soundtrack
Greenberg (soundtrack)
Greenberg: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to Noah Baumbach's film Greenberg. It includes LCD Soundsystem musician and DFA Records co-founder James Murphy's debut film score, as well as songs by other artists.-Track listing:...

 features the first film score by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...

 and DFA Records
DFA Records
DFA Records is an independent record label and production team, launched in September 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. The label has an exclusive distribution deal with major record label EMI....

 fame.

Plot

The film opens as Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig
Greta Celeste Gerwig is an American actress and filmmaker. Gerwig first came to prominence through her association with the mumblecore film movement...

) walks the Greenberg family dog, Mahler. She picks up Phillip Greenberg's dry cleaning and heads back to his house, where the entire family is packing for a trip to Vietnam. Phillip (Chris Messina
Chris Messina
Chris Messina may refer to:*Chris Messina *Chris Messina...

) explains that his brother, Roger, will be staying in the house while they are away, and he asks Florence to help Roger if he needs anything. His wife, Carol (Susan Traylor), confides that Roger has just been released from a hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown.

When Roger (Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....

) arrives, he calls Florence to ask about the people swimming in the pool. Florence explains that they are neighbors who are allowed to use the pool. She comes to the house to pick up her paycheck and feed Mahler. She has a very brief and awkward conversation with Roger, before offering to pick up groceries for him. He gives her a two-item list, requesting whiskey and ice cream sandwiches.

Roger's friend Ivan Schrank (Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed Parry in Enduring Love and as a member of the Welsh rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly...

) stops by and invites him to a barbecue at their mutual friend Eric Beller's (Mark Duplass
Mark Duplass
Mark David Duplass is an American film director, film producer, actor, and screenwriter.Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of director and writer Jay Duplass. He is married to his co-star on The League, Katie Aselton. Duplass is considered to be one of the founders of...

). At the party, Roger is uncomfortable, and Eric is visibly hostile towards him. He runs into Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...

), an ex-girlfriend, and she agrees to meet up with him for some drinks. He explains that he is in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 to simply do nothing for a while. She replies that it is brave for a man in his mid-forties to have no ambition.

Eric and Roger have dinner, where Eric vents his anger over the fact that Roger declined a major label recording contract that their band was offered fifteen years ago. Eric marvels over the fact that Ivan will even talk to Roger anymore, given how devastated Ivan was by losing the contract. Roger insists that conforming to the commercial contract would have been impossible for the band.

Meanwhile, he calls Florence to meet up for a drink. Since he does not drive, as a New Yorker, she picks him up. They stop at her apartment to pick up her purse, which she forgot. Roger comes on to her, and they begin to have sex. Having just come out of a long relationship, Florence stops Roger, not wanting to have meaningless sex.

One day, Roger notices that Mahler is lethargic. He calls Florence to take them to a vet, where they learn that the dog has an auto-immune disease. Roger did not want to get involved with Florence, but as they encounter each other during Mahler's treatment, they keep escalating their relationship, with Florence falling hard for Roger.

When Roger meets up with Beth for drinks, it is her turn to be uncomfortable. She barely remembers their relationship; whereas, he remembers the most minute details from their time together. Roger muses that they would have probably gotten married and had kids, to Beth's astonishment. When Roger asks her out on a date, she says it would be a 'terrible idea' and abruptly asks for the check.

After Florence and Roger finally have sex, they end up in an argument, where he yells at her for always coming back to him, despite the fact that he does not want to get involved. The next day, Roger remorsefully calls her, and Florence is getting drunk in her apartment alone. She confesses that she is due to have an abortion the next day. Roger convinces her to let him take her to the clinic. Since he does not drive, Ivan has to drive Roger and Florence to the clinic. She undergoes a general anaesthetic
General anaesthetic
A general anaesthetic is a drug that brings about a reversible loss of consciousness. These drugs are generally administered by an anaesthesia provider to induce or maintain general anaesthesia to facilitate surgery...

 and stays in the clinic overnight.

Back at the house, Roger's college-age niece, Sara (Brie Larson
Brie Larson
Brie Larson is an American actress and pop rock singer/songwriter. She is best known for her roles in United States of Tara, Sleepover, Remember The Daze and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...

) has turned up. She is heading to Australia the next morning with her friend, Muriel (Juno Temple
Juno Temple
-Early life:Juno Temple was born in London, and is the daughter of producer Amanda Pirie and film director Julien Temple. She grew up in Somerset, England and attended Enmore Primary School, Bedales School, and King's College, Taunton...

), and they throw a house party with dozens of their friends. Roger does drugs with the kids. Ivan shows up and gets into an argument with Roger, where his hurt feelings over the record contract come up. Roger confesses that he had no idea that his personal concerns about the contract would put a stop to the entire deal, and he admits to feeling an immense burden of guilt over it. Both Ivan and Roger bemoan the fact that they have ended up in lives that they did not plan to have; however, Ivan has made peace with his. Dejected, Roger ends up calling Florence's phone and leaving her a long voice mail where he confesses that he really likes her.

The next day, Roger's niece invites him to Australia, and he jumps at the invitation. He convinces the neighbors in the pool to take care of Mahler, but on the way to the airport, he changes his mind. Instead, he goes to pick up Florence at the hospital, and they return to her apartment. The film closes as she listens to Roger's voice mail.

Cast

  • Ben Stiller
    Ben Stiller
    Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....

     as Roger Greenberg
  • Greta Gerwig
    Greta Gerwig
    Greta Celeste Gerwig is an American actress and filmmaker. Gerwig first came to prominence through her association with the mumblecore film movement...

     as Florence Marr
  • Rhys Ifans
    Rhys Ifans
    Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed Parry in Enduring Love and as a member of the Welsh rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly...

     as Ivan Schrank
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh
    Jennifer Jason Leigh
    Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...

     as Beth
  • Merritt Wever
    Merritt Wever
    -Early life:She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and then Sarah Lawrence College. She trained in acting in New York and has appeared in Brooke Berman's play, Smashing and in Cavedweller with Deidre O'Connell, both Off Broadway.-Career:...

     as Gina
  • Chris Messina
    Chris Messina (actor)
    Chris Messina is an American film and television actor.-Life and career:Messina was born in Northport, New York. He started his career as an off-Broadway actor. He has appeared in episodes of the television series Law & Order, Third Watch and Medium...

     as Phillip Greenberg, Roger's brother
  • Brie Larson
    Brie Larson
    Brie Larson is an American actress and pop rock singer/songwriter. She is best known for her roles in United States of Tara, Sleepover, Remember The Daze and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...

     as Sara
  • Juno Temple
    Juno Temple
    -Early life:Juno Temple was born in London, and is the daughter of producer Amanda Pirie and film director Julien Temple. She grew up in Somerset, England and attended Enmore Primary School, Bedales School, and King's College, Taunton...

     as Muriel
  • Mark Duplass
    Mark Duplass
    Mark David Duplass is an American film director, film producer, actor, and screenwriter.Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of director and writer Jay Duplass. He is married to his co-star on The League, Katie Aselton. Duplass is considered to be one of the founders of...

     as Eric Beller
  • Dave Franco
    Dave Franco
    David John "Dave" Franco is an American television and film actor who played the role of Cole Aaronson for season nine of Scrubs.-Personal life:...

     as Rich
  • Jake Paltrow
    Jake Paltrow
    Jacob Danner "Jake" Paltrow is an American film director.- Personal life :Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, to film director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner. He is the younger brother of Gwyneth...

     as Johno

Critical reception

Greenberg garnered generally positive critical reception. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 reports that 75% of the critics have given the film positive reviews; the film has been "Certified Fresh." Another review aggregator, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, assigned the film a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 38 reviews from mainstream critics. The film was given a 3 star rating (out of 4 stars) by Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...

 of Rolling Stone magazine. Travers writes, "Writer-director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale
The Squid and the Whale
The Squid and the Whale is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of two boys in Brooklyn dealing with their parents' divorce in the 1980s. The film is named after a giant squid and sperm whale diorama...

) walks the fragile line between humor and heartbreak...Even when you laugh, like in the climactic party scene, it hurts." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 gave the film 3 and 1/2 stars (out of four).

However, not all reviews were positive. Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder is an American film critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Reason, Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on...

 of MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...

wrote, "The movie is set up as a quirky romance between two lost souls, but in the end it seems more like a stalemate than a love match." David Edelstein
David Edelstein
David Edelstein is the chief film critic for New York Magazine, as well as the film critic for NPR's Fresh Air and CBS Sunday Morning. He lives in Brooklyn, New York....

 of New York Magazine lamented: "Greenberg would be a heckuva movie if we could just get Greenberg out of there." Christopher Tookey of the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

was perhaps the most harsh critic of the film: "This is the kind of low-budget movie that attracts respectful reviews, but tiny audiences. That's because there's virtually no story or character development and the main character's an idiot."

Audience reception

Despite receiving mostly warm critical reviews, Greenberg maintains a 40% positive audience rating from Rotten Tomatoes, and an average user rating of 5 (out of a possible 10) on Metacritic.

Accolades

Berlin International Film Festival
60th Berlin International Film Festival
The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 11 to February 21, 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama Apart Together, in competition, while the closing film is Japanese...

  • Golden Bear Award for Best Film (nominated)


Gotham Awards
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010
The 20th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were presented on November 29, 2010.-Best Feature:Winter's Bone*Black Swan*Blue Valentine*The Kids Are All Right*Let Me In-Best Ensemble Performance:Winter's Bone...

  • Best Breakthrough Actor/Actress - Greta Gerwig (nominated)


Independent Spirit Awards
Independent Spirit Awards 2010
The Independent Spirit Awards 2010 announced its nominees in November 2010. The winners were announced on February 26, 2011.-Best Film :*Black Swan**127 Hours**Greenberg**The Kids Are All Right**Winter's Bone...

  • Best Feature (nominated)
  • Best Male Lead - Ben Stiller (nominated)
  • Best Female Lead - Greta Gerwig (nominated)
  • Best Cinematography - Harris Savides (nominated)


National Board of Review Awards
National Board of Review Awards 2010
The 82nd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2010.All films are in alphabetical order-Top Films:films listed alphabetically except top, which is ranked as Best Film of the year*The Social Network...

  • Top Ten Independent Films

Production

Ben Stiller appeared in the staged documentary I'm Still Here
I'm Still Here (film)
I'm Still Here is a 2010 mockumentary film directed by Casey Affleck, and written by Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began...

 in which he approaches Joaquin Phoenix about playing the role of Ivan.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is arranged by DFA Records
DFA Records
DFA Records is an independent record label and production team, launched in September 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. The label has an exclusive distribution deal with major record label EMI....

 co-founder James Murphy. It is Murphy's debut film score, and it includes original compositions credited to Murphy, his band LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...

 as well as songs by other artists. The movie itself contained 25 unique songs, leaving 8 out of the soundtrack.

Track listing

  1. James Murphy: "People"
  2. Nite Jewel
    Nite Jewel
    -Biography:Ramona Gonzalez began as Nite Jewel in 2008 as the result of her juggling music with undergraduate studies. With assistance from her husband, Cole M. Greif-Neill, she created songs on a portable eight-track cassette recorder. She stated that "moments of ecstasy, emotion, and...

    : "Suburbia"
  3. James Murphy: "Sleepy Baby"
  4. James Murphy: "Thumbs"
  5. Albert Hammond
    Albert Hammond
    Albert Hammond OBE is a British singer, songwriter and record producer from Gibraltar.-Birth and early success:Hammond was born in London, England, where his family had been evacuated to from Gibraltar during World War II. His family returned to Gibraltar shortly after his birth, and there he grew...

    : "It Never Rains in Southern California
    It Never Rains in Southern California
    "It Never Rains in Southern California", written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, is the title of a song first released by Hammond, a British born singer-songwriter, in 1972. Hammond's version peaked at number five on the U.S...

    "
  6. James Murphy: "Plenty of Time"
  7. James Murphy: "Photographs"
  8. James Murphy: "Gente"
  9. Galaxie 500
    Galaxie 500
    Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.-History:Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time...

    : "Strange"
  10. LCD Soundsystem
    LCD Soundsystem
    LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...

    : "Oh You (Christmas Blues)"
  11. James Murphy: "Birthday Song"
  12. James Murphy: "Dear You"
  13. The Sonics
    The Sonics
    The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, originating from the early and mid-1960s. Among The Sonics' contemporaries were The Kingsmen, The Wailers, The Dynamics, The Regents, and Paul Revere & the Raiders...

    : "Shot Down"
  14. Duran Duran
    Duran Duran
    Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

    : "The Chauffeur
    The Chauffeur
    "The Chauffeur" is a Duran Duran song from their second album Rio. The song was written by Simon Le Bon as poetry, several years before Rio was even begun. Two different versions of the song were originally recorded by Duran Duran, and the song has been covered by three mainstream artists. Two...

    "
  15. James Murphy: "If You Need a Friend"
  16. James Murphy : "Please Don't Follow Me"
  17. James Murphy: "Photographs (Piano)"

External links

  • Greenberg - full list of the movie's music - http://www.extrageographic.org/greenberg-a-full-list-of-all-of-the-music-in-the-film
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