I don't have the energy to write some lengthy piece, but like the rest of Noah Baumbach's oeuvre, I found this to be relatable and oddly funny. It was to be expected in many ways.
What wasn't expected was how Todd Solonz-y it ends up being. Everything involving Frank made me deeply uncomfortable.
Jeff Daniels was despicable in this, and watching Walt's journey from acolyte to seeing his father's true colors was tragic. I wish Laura Linney had more to do here; she feels a little too cast aside for my liking.
I would say that the speech pattern and emotionless delivery did rub me the wrong way here in a way that it just doesn't in films like Kicking and Screaming, Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco, or any number of Wes Anderson films. I can't put my finger on it, but watching the mom casually tell her teenage son about her sexcapades just rang false in a way that pulled me out, for example. I suppose I get that this is some faux European wannabe yuppie types, but we get so little time with this family prior to the separation that most of them feel like strangers still an hour into the movie.
Oh, and I do suppose that it wimps out in the climax a bit. Later on in his career, NB would get good at explosive scenes, and Bernard showing up at the house seemed like it should have stuck around for five more minutes, to let us simmer in the discomfort a little while longer.
My favorite line was when Bernard says he got a house on the other side of the park (Prospect Park) and Frank, sobbing, goes, "The other side of the park? Is that even Brooklyn?"
Delightful.
Baumbach continues to be an inspiration to me, as someone making a go of it and shooting a feature in NYC later this year.
7.6/10
I don't have the energy to write some lengthy piece, but like the rest of Noah Baumbach's oeuvre, I found this to be relatable and oddly funny. It was to be expected in many ways.
What wasn't expected was how Todd Solonz-y it ends up being. Everything involving Frank made me deeply uncomfortable.
Jeff Daniels was despicable in this, and watching Walt's journey from acolyte to seeing his father's true colors was tragic. I wish Laura Linney had more to do here; she feels a little too cast aside for my liking.
I would say that the speech pattern and emotionless delivery did rub me the wrong way here in a way that it just doesn't in films like Kicking and Screaming, Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco, or any number of Wes Anderson films. I can't put my finger on it, but watching the mom casually tell her teenage son about her sexcapades just rang false in a way that pulled me out, for example. I suppose I get that this is some faux European wannabe yuppie types, but we get so little time with this family prior to the separation that most of them feel like strangers still an hour into the movie.
Oh, and I do suppose that it wimps out in the climax a bit. Later on in his career, NB would get good at explosive scenes, and Bernard showing up at the house seemed like it should have stuck around for five more minutes, to let us simmer in the discomfort a little while longer.
My favorite line was when Bernard says he got a house on the other side of the park (Prospect Park) and Frank, sobbing, goes, "The other side of the park? Is that even Brooklyn?"
Delightful.
Baumbach continues to be an inspiration to me, as someone making a go of it and shooting a feature in NYC later this year.
7.6/10
