Greenberg

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Greenberg

R

Released Mar 19, 2010

1h 47m

Comedy

Drama

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

174 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller), a failed musician now making a living as a carpenter in New York, returns to Los Angeles to house-sit for his brother (Chris Messina). He is stranded there -- since he doesn't drive -- until his brother's assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), comes to his rescue. She is as much a lost soul as he is, and as the pair begin spending more time together, they form a significant connection -- giving Roger a much-needed reason to be happy.

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

Greenberg is a fantastically complex part to play, but Stiller's performance is superbly nuanced, convincing and brave.

Aug 30, 2018

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Nicolas Rapold

Sight & Sound

Greenberg is a great spectacle of toxic emotional stasis.

Jul 10, 2018

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

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.

Rated: C-

Sep 11, 2017

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

This observant, clever, and at times painfully funny story showcases Stiller’s rarely tapped versatility as an actor, even if his character takes the entire length of the film to warm up to.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 5, 2023

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Unexplainable, yet unforgettable. [Full review in Spanish]

Oct 11, 2022

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Stuart McGurk

NME (New Musical Express)

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.

Rated: 3/5

May 19, 2021

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Audience Member

Floored by the good reviews. I'm puzzled by what I'm watching. Is this suppose to be how millennials interact? There is ZERO chemistry between the leads- but is there NOT suppose to be? I'm 55 so I Gen X but would think that human interaction hasn't changed a whole lot. Maybe I'm wrong? Both of these people almost never laugh/ almost never say anything funny/ and almost never show any kind of animation. Do millennials not have passion for anything? These 2 didn't. She's talented and confident enough to sing on a stage- yet seems not excited, not nervous, not anything. I couldn't tell if they acted the lines this way on purpose or if they just did a bad job at conveying the parts. The movie isn't good at all and seeing their mediocre enthusiasm for how and what they do with their lives= was how I felt watching this. If this is how people after my gen communicate and live- where's the LIFE? I won't be keeping it in my collection and didn't enjoy watching it and didn't understand AT ALL what the point is in making a film whose lead characters are boring and unaffected. By EVERYTHING. WOW.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

06/02/25

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R D

Greenberg is so utterly unlikeable, vapid, and unredeemable, I didn't finish the movie. Time I'll never get back.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/15/25

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Gnr E

Ben Stiller made it to whole different level. I loved it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/24/24

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Munkhchimeg T

You can see the how the calm and minimal movie it is from the poster. Life is very simple and this movie can illustrated.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/22/24

Full Review

A L

The pompous letters of complaint the main character writes to everyone, from Starbucks to a pet taxi company, are amusing. So I kept hoping to feel a growing affection for Greenberg, but ultimately there wasn't a shred of anything to like about his thoroughly unpleasant personality. Nothing made me remotely care what happened to him. Yes I know LA people are a certain way. In which there can be humor. But it gets old quick. At the end I wished I'd checked out after 20 minutes when I first had the urge.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/02/24

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Bryan B

Tag line: A movie about nothing that makes fun of LA people.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

12/03/23

Full Review

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Noah Baumbach

Director

Ben Stiller

Roger Greenberg

Greta Gerwig

Florence Marr

Rhys Ifans

Ivan Schrank

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Beth

Chris Messina

Phillip Greenberg

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Synopsis

Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller), a failed musician now making a living as a carpenter in New York, returns to Los Angeles to house-sit for his brother (Chris Messina). He is stranded there -- since he doesn't drive -- until his brother's assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), comes to his rescue. She is as much a lost soul as he is, and as the pair begin spending more time together, they form a significant connection -- giving Roger a much-needed reason to be happy.

Director: Noah Baumbach
Producer: Scott Rudin, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Screenwriter: Noah Baumbach
Distributor: Focus Features
Production Co: Scott Rudin Productions, Twins Financing
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use|Some Strong Sexuality)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 19, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.2M
Runtime: 1h 47m

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