Netflix/IAC Films 110 minutes NR Reviewed October 13, 2017
It’s taken a few decades, but Adam Sandler grows up as an actor in this dysfunctional family dramedy. He plays Danny, the oldest child of a pretentious, once almost-famous NYC sculptor Harold Meyerowitz (Dustin Hoffman). This funny, sometimes exasperating ensemble will make you uncomfortable even as you laugh. That’s what families do. It feels very dysfunctionally normal if there is such a thing.
Writer/Director Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha, The Squid and the Whale) explores the dynamics of this crew which brings in younger half brother Matthew (Ben Stiller), sister Jean (Elizabeth Marvel), and Harold’s hippy, boozy 4th wife Maureen (Emma Thompson).
The film is presented in chapter form giving Hoffman and the boys the spotlight to unveil and peel back more of their backstory. Jean doesn’t get the same treatment which is sad because Marvel’s portrayal of a neglected, damaged child now grown and trying to navigate the world is just as compelling as Danny and Matthew’s stories. But she finally does get a chance to tell her heartbreaking story in her own words later in the movie which is very effective.
Everything revolves around the patriarch. Harold constantly seeks approval. A retrospective showing of one of his works is the impetus to bring the family together. Hoffman remains a potent force both as a character and as an actor. His white-bearded persona lives in the past. He is overbearing, self centered and selfish. He demands everything and gives nothing, retelling his stories so often the kids fill in the lines along with him. He speaks dialogue in quick, guttural bursts that demand you listen closely or lose the punchlines. It doesn’t look like he’s even trying, but Hoffman manages to steal every scene. He’s that good.
Bachman gives the half-brothers plenty of fodder for friction and Harold helps. Danny, inexplicably, loves the old man despite being the constant object of his ridicule. Sandler portrays this character like a man-child. He dresses in rumpled shorts and has that stubby beard. Danny, recently divorced, has never pursued what could have been his musical career, but chose to stay home and raise his daughter Eliza. Grace Van Patten provides a surprise break-out performance as the daughter. She’s cute, smart and headstrong enough to break the curse of her father’s generation.
Ben Stiller’s Matthew is the opposite of Danny. Stiller, presumably his father’s favorite, escaped New York and fled to L.A. to make a fortune, along with a failed marriage and a young son. Matthew was the product of Harold’s second marriage to Candace Bergen, Matthew’ mother. She appears in just one scene where she makes the apology and admissions that should have come from Harold, but never do.
Matthew, meanwhile, keeps trying to move past his childhood, but like his brother, it’s always gnawing at him. They describe themselves as middle aged men in the making and have an idea of themselves they just aren’t ready to lose. Stiller exhibits a character transformation through the course of the film and does so well, which is a testament to his talent and acting maturity.
Predictably, crisis intervenes to focus these relationships. This family should have been in family counseling decades ago. But better late than ever, they learn on their own to say the watchwords that every family should be able to tell each other are given, “I love you.” “I forgive you.” “Forgive me.” “Thank you.” “Goodbye.”
There is a lot of family conversation where people don’t listen or just talk over each other. It’s like a modern drawing room comedy with lots of words flying back and forth. There is only one scene that contains any action and even that is fairly controlled. Baumbach fills the screen with great actors allowed to have their say and fully explore their stories. This movie is compact and intimate so it will play equally as well on the small screen through Netflix or in theatrical release. To us, this film feels very much like a wacky, dysfunctional family trying to find it’s way like The Royal Tenenbaums for a new generation.
