Greenberg: Press reviews

'complicated, infuriating, good-hearted, funny, often painful, and well worth the effort'

'surprisingly affecting'

'the funniest and saddest movie Mr. Baumbach has made so far, and also the riskiest...a movie about a man who is defiantly difficult to like becomes very hard not to love.'

'This is tricky, ambiguous material...yet Baumbach handles it with great assurance'

'Like a wasp, it delivers a sharp sting of sadness.'

'Stiller constantly, deliberately tests our patience by scrupulously avoiding anything resembling comic shtick.'

'In a radical change of direction Ben Stiller has dropped the likeable loser act to play... a thoroughly unlikeable loser. And do you know what? I like him much better this way.'

'hysterically, deeply uncomfortable.'

'This will be called a "brave" choice by some. I didn't buy it.'

'lacks any kind of dramatic consequence - it's too cold and observational to take to heart.'

'striking dialogue, some great performances'

'an indie romcom with some splendidly offbeat moments, a few inspired lines and one performance of immense charm'

'As a portrait of a generational malady - the baleful interior lives of (upper-) middle-class Americans - it says very little. Indeed, saying little seems to be its only goal.'

'There is an ex-bandmate played by Rhys Ifans. He isn't funny. Nor is the script. Let's move on.'

'At its best, it's a sublimely unsparing dissection of a mid-life crisis'