Los Meyerowitz: La familia no se elige

Plant an academic-artistic Jewish-American family in contemporary Manhattan, and you have neurotic conversation, bruising relationships, and repentance all learned from Woody Allen if not for real. Even more than Woody's endearing situations, this one is bloodier but more forgiving.

Noah Baumbach's Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected),a Netflix original, is touchingly funny about two Meyerowitz sons, musician Danny (Adam Sandler) and financier Matt (Ben Stiller) celebrating their mediocre-sculptor-professor father, Harold (Dustin Hoffman), and their constant jockeying for position with him and themselves. It's not a hilarious comedy, but the nerdy-New-Yorker motif shows it is still satisfyingly amusing.

Baumbach perfectly tunes us to Danny's alienation from Dad and Matt's clueless realization of his role as favored one. Danny's opening sequence trying to find a parking spot in the East Village is an emblem of his consistent failures and the disintegration of the fractured family holding on to hopes about the deed for Dad's apartment.

Most of what happens is off-center from the truth of things, as is probably true of most families whose perception of each other is skewered by family culture and parental politics. The dialogue is both banal and profound, just the way we all live except that few of us are Jewish or live in Manhattan, two invaluable elements that provide subtle hilarity. When feelings are exposed, the dialogue turns almost Eugene O'Neill-like.

Most touching about these stories, which are chapters partly devoted to the three males, are almost seamless revelations about the family and their unspooling in a leisurely but sometimes devastating way. About the daily dialogue, Baumbach can't be bested, maybe except for Allen in his prime and Baumbach's girlfriend, Greta Gerwig, whose wispiness is gone from Baumbach here, but all the better for this urbane grit: "Brian and James, who you've met..." Matthew "Very charming interracial, homosexual couple, and smart about the work. They were familiar with Gilded Halfwing [Harold's prized but ignored sculpture]." Harold

This film shows how Actor, Adam Sandler can play a dramatic role well (also/more so 'Uncut Gems'), Ben Stiller too, performs great through this film. This film touches upon the conflicts of many families, with siblings jealousy over 'the golden child', parents trying to be better then their own parent/s, and a fathers children trying to defend/ lie to themselves about his bad parenting behind his 'good' work that he put more effort into as they grew up. The film has a phew jokes to lighten the mood throughout the film and as any Sandler film would, and as said already, is quite realistic especially through the 'hospital scenes'. I would definitely recommend anyone to watch this film as it was well written, well directed and well performed.

Ah yes, family dysfunctional. Everyone has it, and frankly its an over mined sub genre in film. With entries often pushing melodrama and character arcs to neat, organised catharsis, it has become as predictable as bad romantic comedies. Which is why i'm so happy to report that 'The Meyerowitz Stories' is one of the best dramedies I've seen all year! 

Told through various character perspectives in no real cinematic structure, there's a naturalism to the style. A humbleness that revels in subtleties rather than climatic overtures. And by god is it refreshing. There isn't a drop of pretension to be found in the film, no barriers between you and the characters, who are all lovingly played by an assured, veteran cast. 

Adam Sandler is a standout in what is already an outstanding ensemble. This is a performance quite different from what you might expect. It isn't a retread of Punch Drunk Love, or a dramatic overhaul of his past characters either. He instead lends a striking amount of humanity to Danny, which can be said of the entire cast. But Ben Stiller in particular deserves a shout out. I've never quite seen him pull off drama this straight faced and earnest before, and like most of the film, the sporadic dramatic beats are interspersed throughout his performance. 

Yeah i cant quite say enough nice things about 'The Meyerowitz Stories'. This was a joy to watch.So i'll just say this, if you love Wes Anderson films, in particular 'The Royal Tenenbaums' this is an easy recommend. And while it lacks the formalism and ridiculously cinematic glory of Anderson's style, there is far more humanity is Noah Baumbach straight faced approach. Meyerowitz Stories may not provide anything radically new, but it provides a great entry in the tired list of dysfunctional comedies, along with some of the year's best performances.

A treat of a movie! Packs an emotional punch, laugh out loud funny at times but sad at every turn, a movie that strikes a realistic tone in the presentation of family conflicts. Reminded me a lot of Little Miss Sunshine. The ensemble cast was fantastic - Adam Sandler a revelation. Presented as a series of connected short stories focusing on different members of the family I was left very involved and wanting more. It's not often I finish a movie wishing they'd given us another half hour.

I am surprised by other reviews of this film, but I think understanding this work depends wholly on whether you have ever lived with or known intimately a narcissist. It may not be pretty to watch, but it's not pretty to live either. And this movie nails it. It may be a small percentage of the population that can truly understand the subtleties of this movie and appreciate them. The skill it took to capture the complexity of these characters and to make it believable is remarkable. Baumbach paints in detail the devastated landscape of a narcissist's world. Hoffman's character displays perfectly how a narcissist's personality cannot and will not make room for anyone else's experience or emotions, especially his children's. Every conversation eventually returns to him: his needs, his opinions, his preferences, his ego, his career, his art, his place in the world. People have remarked that Hoffman is tedious and exhausting in this film. Yes. Because that is exactly the point. And Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Elizabeth Marvel are brilliant as the relational afterthoughts of his all-consuming ego. I would recommend this film to anyone. Not because you'll feel great after watching it but because it dares to tackle a deeply complex human subject and succeeds. And isn't that the point of art anyway?