Greenberg (2010)
64%RT Audience Score: 42%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins & 15 nominations
Greenberg’s title character is harder to like than most, but Ben Stiller’s nuanced performance and a darkly funny script help take the misanthropic edge off
Greenberg is a movie that’s like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of feeling thrilled, you feel like you need a therapist. Ben Stiller’s performance is so good that you’ll forget he’s the same guy who played Zoolander. The movie is a mix of painful and funny moments that will make you question your own life choices. It’s not a movie for everyone, but if you’re in the mood for some emotional torture, Greenberg is the perfect choice.
Production Company(ies)
Asghar Farhadi Productions, Dreamlab Films, MPAAPSA Academy Film Fund,
Distributor
Focus Features
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some strong sexuality, drug use, and language
Year of Release
2010
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 47m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 19, 2010 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 13, 2010
Genre(s)
Romance
Keyword(s)
Greenberg, Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh, directed by Noah Baumbach, written by Noah Baumbach, romance, R rating, box office performance, $4.2M, Scott Rudin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, reviewed by Deborah Ross, Nicolas Rapold, Candice Frederick, Scott Foundas, Joshua Rothkopf, Giles Hardie, Stuart McGurk, Richard Propes, Felicia Feaster, David Harris, Brian D Johnson, misanthropic, carpenter, New York, Los Angeles, house-sitting, assistant, lost soul, connection, unhappy, fears, anxieties, slice of life, dark humor, clever dialogue
Worldwide gross: $6,344,112
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,624,100
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,016
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 940,469
US/Canada gross: $4,234,170
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $5,755,874
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,765
US/Canada opening weekend: $118,152
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $160,614
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,752
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Greta Gerwig – Florence Marr
Rhys Ifans – Ivan Schrank
Jennifer Jason Leigh – Beth
Chris Messina – Phillip Greenberg
Susan Taylor – Carol Greenberg
Director(s)
Noah Baumbach
Writer(s)
Noah Baumbach
Producer(s)
Scott Rudin, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Film Festivals
Berlin
Awards & Nominations
2 wins & 15 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (175) | Top Critics (60) | Fresh (133) | Rotten (42)
Greenberg is a fantastically complex part to play, but Stiller’s performance is superbly nuanced, convincing and brave.
August 30, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
Greenberg is a great spectacle of toxic emotional stasis.
July 10, 2018
Nicolas Rapold
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Greenberg is self-indulgent, boring and very cynical (and not in a good way). The anticlimactic ending doesn’t sum up the movie but rather leaves you further frustrated at Greenberg for being a miserable, unlikeable person for no apparent reason.
September 11, 2017 | Rating: C-
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
His sharpest observations are reserved for preternaturally intelligent, hyper-self-conscious outsiders whose existential crises are the failure of the world-and, to some extent, themselves-to live up to their own high expectations.
June 20, 2013
Scott Foundas
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Far from the usual slapstick laced with smarts comedy, Greenberg is Ben Stiller’s Punch Drunk Love.
August 8, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Giles Hardie
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
Baumbach specialises in autobiographical films which are beautiful, tragic and often horribly uncomfortable, and any filmmaker who can squeeze that much emotion out of his audience deserves his due. It’s just that it’s not that much fun to actually watch.
May 19, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Stuart McGurk
NME
Stiller manages to somehow turn Greenberg, the man, into a sympathetic man-child.
September 9, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
It is a painful, funny, truthful read on our own times and a peculiar and distressing moment that often happens at 30 or 40 or 50.
January 23, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Charleston City Paper
Although the film sometimes drags (especially for one with a 90 minute run time), Baumbach and Stiller both score a mutual coup with Greenberg.
October 19, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
On balance, I found my feelings for Greenberg running hot and cold, as if I was being been infected by the protagonist’s jagged mood swings. A good sign, I guess. But that’s the thing about a misanthropic movie…
July 23, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
The indignities of modern life that Greenberg can’t bear are peculiarly American. And so is this thoughtful and hilarious film, though some might feel its arty moments and lack of action seem more European.
December 19, 2018
Kelly Jane Torrance
The American Conservative…
Plot
We like Florence: she’s considerate, sweet, pretty, and terrific with kids and dogs. She’s twenty-five, personal assistant to an L.A. family that’s off on vacation. Her boss’s brother comes in from New York City, fresh from a stay at an asylum, to take care of the house. He’s Roger, a forty-year-old carpenter, gone from L.A. for fifteen years. He arrives, doesn’t drive, and needs Florence’s help, especially with the family’s dog. He’s also connecting with former band-mates – two men and one woman with whom he has a history. He over-analyzes, has a short fuse, and doesn’t laugh at himself easily. As he navigates past and present, he’s his own saboteur. And what of Florence? is Roger one more responsibility for her or something else?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No specific tidbit is given about the cast, but Fresh Kernels describes the title character of Greenberg as “harder to like than most.”
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