The Meyerowtiz Stories (New and Selected) Review
Well that wasn’t what I expected it to be.
You know, I absolutely love it when a movie comes
completely out of nowhere and blindsides me. For the better, that is. I don’t
like bad surprises, I love good surprises. That’s precisely what “The
Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” is, a good surprise. You would think
that a movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler would be a
specific type of comedy. You would think that Adam Sandler would rely on his ludicrous
hyper-active comedic strength to carry the movie. After all, that’s what he’s
been doing for a long time now. You would think that since Sandler is in the
lead, both Hoffman and Stiller would also lean in on the crazy comedic, the
safe slapstick.
That’s not the movie Noah Baumbach has made though.
One could definitely take a look at “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)”
and think it’s a healthy mixture of Wes Anderson and Woody Allen. I got the
vibe of both directors while watching this. There is also an authentic
mockumentary feel, almost. The kind of vibe you got from Baumbach’s earlier
film “Frances Ha,” a movie I also absolutely loved. But this film isn’t just
the sum of other film’s parts. There is always a fine line between homage and
pure adaptation. Baumbach has told a relatable story, with some slight familiar
ground.
There are three Meyerowitz kids, between the three of
them they were born by two different mothers. There is Danny (Sandler), Matthew
(Stiller) and Jean (Elizabeth Marvel). The kids have all kind of lived in the
shadow of their father, the great Harold Meyerowitz (Hoffman) who is a world-
renouned artist. It was expected that his kids would be artists too, but the
three children, more or less, went in different directions. They never quite
felt the love of their father, especially when it came to their life choices.
The siblings are a little estranged to each other. Jean and Danny had the same
mom, but Matthew had a different mom and that has always made their
relationship a bit odd to say the least. So when Harold has to go to the
hospital right before his own retrospect, the weird relationship flows through.
It's quickly established that this is a semi-broken
home, and as the movie moves forward, the siblings begin to care for each other
more. Some compromises and promises are rewarded, some discussions are had and
some points made. This is a movie where you are going to laugh even when you
feel like you shouldn’t be. But the cast is so good here that you kind of
forget how wrong-headed the whole clan is here.
Adam Sandler has made a career on the same type of
comedy, almost seemingly purposefully type casting himself as the same kind of
character. There are rare instances when he breaks from the mold he created for
himself. The Adam Sandler in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” is not
the same Adam Sandler we see in “The Waterboy” or “Happy Gilmore” or “Billy
Madison.” Nor is the Adam Sandler we see in “Reign Over Me” anything like those
other guys. I think, deep down, there is a Oscar-caliber performer buried
inside Sandler, he just likes being an usual goof that we rarely see it. You
can read reviews for this movie and they agree, this is a
once-in-a-million-lifetimes performance by Sandler, and I am a guy who usually
loves his lout routine. If you can’t stand crazy Sandler, this film is for you.
He’s funny without shattering the screen around him. He creates a genuine
character out of performance instead of anger. It’s rare in the greater
filmography of his career and he is downright commanding on screen here.
It sounds like it would be easy to overlook the other
actors in this ensemble, but it is not. Stiller, who feels like he’s been on
hiatus for God knows why, delivers an impeccable performance. There is a moment
deep in the film that feels so revelatory, so good that it could only come from
Stiller. You’ll know the moment when you see it.
This is a different kind of comedy. For a couple years
now, I have been pretty harsh towards Netflix’s lot of movies. Only because
their TV originals have been so strong, you’d think they would make equally
strong decisions when it came to movies. I always thought many of their movies
were boring, some were even good. But they never had any great movies. I think
that will be changing tremendously this year forward. Netflix has had a strong
year of great films this year, and I hope that streak only continues in the
future.
FINAL GRADE: A
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