Is Noah Baumbach getting therapy? Scratch that; I’m pretty sure I know the answer: the films of Noah Baumbach are not expressing a need for therapy; they ARE his therapy. Ask not if Noah needs a shoulder, an ear, or a helping hand. He expresses himself thoroughly through the avatar of Ben Stiller, Adam Driver, or anybody else who wears his face on screen. These are pretty intense therapy sessions – a lot of role playing takes place.
This time around, Noah goes after having a shitty father. And, of course, it’s not that Harold (Dustin Hoffman) is actually outwardly shitty. He seems like a nice enough guy; he acts like a nice enough guy … until he doesn’t. Like when he passive-aggressively “confronts” a fellow restaurant patron by sipping his wine and then accusing him of stealing his jacket.
This takes place in segments, so we can learn, in turn, how each child has been screwed up by dad. Well, each *boy* child; the “stories” are essentially about Danny (Adam Sandler) and his half-brother Matthew (Stiller). Their sister Jean (Elizabeth Marvel) is little more than an afterthought … but, hey, she was screwed up by dad, too! Danny has been a house husband for years, which works not-as-well when divorce happens. He’s devoted to his college age daughter, Eliza (Grace Van Patten), who –in turn- is using her education towards developing a career as a future pornographer.
There’s quite a fine line between pornography and art, huh?
Matthew, meanwhile, is the “success” of the family, having sold his soul to El Lay. We think Danny has parental issues until Matthew redefines them, simmering his antipathy until boiling over completely; one scene has him literally screaming at his father while the latter drives away.
As with most Baumbach films, The Meyerowitz Stories seems personal, intimate. The moments are quiet; the pain is quiet. By which I mean rarely of an external expression. Danny swears at other drivers while trying to find parking, but we never meet the object of his curse, nor are we shown the parking space. It isn’t about the parking space or the fellow roadster; it’s about the frustrations of his life. The humor follows suit. Noah Baumbach will make me smile often with personal observations about family and relationships, but I didn’t laugh aloud in Meyerowitz until the 1:04 mark.
For those put off by lack-of-plot, pretension, or white people problems, The Meyerowitz Stories ain’t gonna do much for ya. It’s a bunch of grown-ass adults having NYC relationships with NYC problems. These folks treat marriages like mortgages, and get out of them with the same amount of effort. If you don’t know what it is to share a public restaurant experience with a stranger, this film will be hard to relate to. Mostly, The Meyerowitz Stories is another brick in the pyramid of: “However screwed up you think your family is, this one is worse.” It’s probably true, that is unless you’re stuck in an openly Trump-voting HH. But if that’s the case, I’m pretty sure you’re not reading this sentence.
Some dudes have the time of their lives
Treating indulgence like giving high-fives
I won’t spoil your relations
With so few expectations
But you should probably have more kids than wives
Rated TV-MA, 112 Minutes
Director: Noah Baumbach
Writer: Noah Baumbach
Genre: Therapy
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People with parent issues
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People with no tolerance for gray areas
