There is a familiarity in Noah Baumbach’s storytelling which has beautifully matured over the years. The dysfunctional relationship between a parent and their child has something been Noah Baumbach’s center in almost all of his movies. The Meyerowitz Stories is another excellent addition to that and might I say it is Noah’s best film to date.
Harold Meyerowitz is someone who has been proud of his work in sculpting, he has been an excellent teacher at Bard University influencing many kids over the years but when it comes to his own children and marriages he has been quite a failure. Harold’s use of his own work in conversation, how his new work might be the best or how his old work was this and that or how he met someone and how they liked his work is something that goes on a loop for him. The reason remains that he has never been successful or made any rich amount of money through his art. But still he has this shadow over his children Danny, Matthew and Jean.
Danny is talented musician but he left being an musician and became an house husband. Danny spent almost all of his childhood with his mother with a year or few with Harold. Danny and Jean as they say were treated like a second class citizen from Harold as a father. Even Harold knows how he has treated Danny and Jean but with Matthew he took some efforts but that efforts with Matthew still made Matthew be away from him as Matthew says he gets angry whenever he is with his father.
For the first two parts of the movie, we see how these relationships are. With Matthew and Danny always correcting someone that they are Step Brothers not Brothers. Danny has a great relationship with his daughter Eliza and Matthew with his son. There is this conversation from them on how they want to be better parents to their children or how they were raised like animals and how today parents are more closer to their children and somewhat are friends with them.
There is also this conversation on why Danny who plays piano so excellently, Matthew who was a very good performer and Jean can do photography didn’t stick with their artistic sides. But the answers come from Harold’s need for being the only artist in the family.
One of the most significant scene in this movie is when Jean tells Danny and Matthew how she was sexually assaulted when she was a teenager by one their fathers friend and as soon as she tells them we see how Danny and Matthew express their anger by smashing that persons car as the person now is very old and has Alzheimer’s, here is Jean sharing a disturbing story from her past, and rather than comfort her, they seek on their own revenge and anger rather than care about their sister’s feelings. Jean just says to them that she can smash all the cars in here but still she has to live with that and nothing can unfuck it.
I loved how the bond between Danny, Michael and Jean starts to grow. They always had things in common between them but there was this belief between themselves that left them apart for years. I love the scene when Matthew asks Jean why does she even come to visit Harold, she first says because she is an decent human being but next she says because she loves spending time with both of them.
It was so great to see Adam Sandler in a great role like this since Punch Drunk Love. He is the strong force throughout this movie. he holds onto his feelings that he really wants to come out with. I even loved how sometimes there was this flicker anger coming out from him reminding back to Punch Drunk Love. His moments with Eliza and later with Matthew are really excellent. I loved his last scene with Harold, it was so epic.
Dustin Hoffman as Harold brings in the self centered world of his character that lives in his own world of assumptions about his art. He knows he has failed as a father but he is proud of Matthew because he made something of himself and is the only one who knows how to make money. There was this stubbornness to his character like when he protests and walks away.
Ben Stiller as Matthew roles back into his family in the assumption he can handle it more calmly now, but circumstance become familiar. But his character shows a maturity which is needed.
Elizabeth Marvel as Jean stands on her childhood that was spent mostly being unnoticed by Harold. She is strong and funny. The scene where she shows Danny the short films she has starred in with Eliza was an amazing moment.
Emma Thompson as Maureen was simply incredible. I mean at times I though she doing back and forth from Hogwarts and here. The first dinner scene where she cooks a Shark, which was raw and the shell fish don’t even open. Then the scene where she just slowly smashes her car into the tree.
Grace Van Patten as Eliza gives a strong supporting role and her short films as described by Danny I think are Hard R.
The Meyerowitz Stories is a excellently written drama with comedy blended in. Noah Baumbach explores more on his dysfunctional family stories with more space and maturity. The conversation and dialogues are perfectly written and with great performances from everyone, The Meyerowitz Stories is no doubt Noah Baumbach best film with Frances Ha and Mistress America. Would have loved a Greta Gerwig cameo but we got Sigourney Weaver so I won’t complain.
Rating : 5/5
Cinema Through my Eyes 