Pedestrian TV

Noah Baumbach's Greenberg Trailer  November 23, 2009

It's hard to feel sorry for Ben Stiller. The dude's Dad was in Seinfeld, he's married to the film version of Marcia Brady, he sleeps on piles of burning money and when he's not playing silly buggers for millions he's making cameos in Jack Johnson videos. I do however, feel sorry for him in the trailer for Greenberg the latest feature film from The Squid And The Whale writer/director and frequent Wes Anderson collaborator, Noah Baumbach.

"Greenberg" follows Stiller as "a New Yorker who moves to Los Angeles in order to figure out his life while he housesits for his brother" and the pathos Stiller's defeated everyman evokes instantly reminds me of Adam Sandler's dramatic turn in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love.

I'm also reminded of Garden State's dog, medical waiting room and protagonist can't swim scenes - as well as the whole relocating interstate to work out your existential crisis and start a relationship with quirky strangers. Actually this kinda looks like Garden State 2: Twenty Years Later, Still No Happier but instead of The Shins it's LCD Soundsytem's way too appropriate ode to aging "All My Friends" and a slightly less annoying lead.

Which is to say this film might be too indie for its own good Exhibit A being this direct quote: "finally embrace the life you never planned on" and Exhibit B being an anti-corporate Starbucks letter and a general feeling of nihilism that mutates into contentment by trailer's (and we'll assume film's) end. But hey, I'll be first in line when it premieres in cinemas so I'm not complaining. Also LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" should be used in every new movie trailer, it'll singlehandedly save Hollywood, seriously.