Greenberg

When the Greenberg family goes on vacation to Vietnam, they leave their Los Angeles home and dog in the hands of the father’s brother Roger (played by Ben Stiller). Roger, fresh from a stint in a mental hospital, reunites with old friends and makes some new ones, but the undercurrent is that he’s deeply disturbed and unable to connect on a human level with anyone.

The ClearPlay Factor

There are a lot of sexual situations, nudity and language that are edited by ClearPlay from the R-rated Greenberg, including two scenes of intercourse, one scene of implied intercourse, and talk of oral sex. There are about 70 instances of language, including nearly 40 F-word. Even in the ClearPlayed version, there isn’t much for kids or most teens in Greenberg as it deals with issues of alienation and lost dreams, mid-life crisis concerns.

Will I laugh at Greenberg?…

Greenberg is not your typical Ben Stiller comedy. While there are moments that are darkly comic, there is a lot of pain in this character study of a flawed and largely unsympathetic individual (by the way, “character study” is critic code for “little or no plot”). Director Noah Baumbach wrings a lot of pathos out of Stiller’s performance, but the movie is definitely not for all tastes.

Marty Nabhan— ClearPlay Housesitter

Rated R for some strong sexuality, drug use, and language.; 107 min; Directed By Noah Baumbach