Mumble-what?

So N. (bf) and I are leaving the movie theatre on Monday and while discussing the film ("Greenberg," starring Ben Stiller), he mentioned the term "mumblecore." Not understanding, I went to the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia. There I learned the following:

Mumblecore is an American independent film movement that arose in the early 2000s. It is primarily characterized by ultra-low budget production (often employing digital video cameras), focus on personal relationships between twenty-somethings, improvised scripts, and non-professional actors. Filmmakers in this genre include Lynn Shelton, Andrew Bujalski, Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Aaron Katz, Joe Swanberg, and Barry Jenkins. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumblecore)

I had forgotten this connection--Mark Duplass is an actor/director, along with his brother Jay, who works with N's cousin, Jay Deuby, a film editor. A few months ago we were lucky enough to see their most recent film "Cyrus" (John C. Riley, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill), and Mark also had a supporting role in Greenberg.

As I watched Greenberg, I was struck by the similarities in the two films, and yet came away sure that I had enjoyed Cyrus significantly more. Of course I am aware I could be biased because N's cousin was involved, plus we went to the Ann Arbor Sundance premiere, which was really fun, so the whole experience could have influenced how I felt...but I don't think that's the whole story. Here are some thoughts:

1. How I felt going in
Greenberg: I was impressed by the trailer, I had seen and liked Greta Gerwig in Baghead, and have always liked Ben Stiller.

Cyrus: Historically unimpressed and annoyed with both John C. Riley and Jonah Hill, like Marisa Tomei but not expecting much, Catherine Keener....ok I'll see anything with Catherine Keener.

2. How I felt during the film
Greenberg: I kept wanting to like Roger (Stiller), and just couldn't. He was trying to be the flawed broken human who earns our sympathy and who we end up rooting for in the end. Instead I fluctuated between pity and irritation. I liked Florence (Gerwig) and kind of wished the movie was about her instead.

Cyrus: John (Riley) was immediately characterized as vulnerable and likeable. It took me longer to warm up to Cyrus (Hill), but I think as an audience we were supposed to be weirded out by this kid, as much as John is. I was disappointed that Molly (Tomei) was such weak character, shown as gullible, emotional, and almost stupid at times--but she was definitely contrasted against the stronger Jamie (Keener) in a way that served the narrative.

3. The take-away (Spoiler Alert)
Greenberg: I think the message of this movie was summed up in Florence's last line, "This is you." Roger has to accept himself and his life and move forward, instead of hanging onto the past. Unfortunately, the audience was force-fed this message, and the more the director tried to make me feel for Roger, the more I just didn't care.

Cyrus: The trailer made this seem like most of Riley/Hill's other work i.e. ready-made comedy that's easy to enjoy and has very little underneath. But this movie has so much more depth and heart than that, and I came away from it with a real desire for the happy ending that the directors allude to.

To sum up, I didn't hate Greenberg, it just didn't meet my expectations. It was either too crass to be sweet, or too sappy to be sad, (I haven't decided) but either way something didn't quite click for me. While I think it's worth seeing and I definitely laughed out loud, it just wasn't great. On the other hand, I truly loved the story of Cyrus, and I thought it was told simply and wonderfully. There were a few quiet moments that verged on boring, and a scene or two that felt too long, but the rest more than made up for these lapses.