Movie #1491 ........................."The Meyerowitz Stories" (new and selected)

Movie #1491 "The Meyerowitz Stories"  --- I saw a trailer for this and missed it in the theatre, so I streamed it last night, and it was, to me, a typical Noah Baumbach film --- very indie in spirit, takes risks, shows a  slice of life, dysfunctional family as major focus, and not much action/mostly a character driven story --- yep, yep, yep, yep, and yep!  I don't think it's for everybody because there is so much arguing by family members, and some despicable behavior shown toward them as well, that you might just want to quit watching --- lots of family angst that isn't welcomed by everyone.   But I liked it --- esp. Emma Thompson, who is practically unrecognizable as Dustin Hoffman's present wife.  Dustin Hoffman plays a character I've never seen him do, either.  He is very stiff, and delivers his lines very quickly --- And Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler are asked to do some pretty heavy acting here, and I thought they were successful (I've always felt it is harder to do comedy anyway, so most comics can do the heavy duty acting--- no surprise there).  The surprise is that Stiller and Sandler agreed to do this glum study on a dysfunctional family that probably will carry their grudges to their graves.  I also found the grand daughter ( a van patten) to be esp. effective.  And the sister ---- I've seen her in a lot of stuff, but I do believe this is a bigger part than she usually plays.  I would give the film 3.8 out of 5 stars, and recommend it to people who might like other Noah Baumbach films, like: The Squid and the Whale (which I suggested for the Barnes' family to watch one time, and I've never been forgiven for that experience), Kicking and Screaming, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Frances Ha.

"MEYEROWITZ STORIES"    2017     1 hour and 55 minutes        

An estranged family gathers together in New York for an event celebrating the artistic work of their father.

Director:

 Noah Baumbach

Writer:

 Noah Baumbach

Stars:

 Adam Sandler,  Grace Van Patten,  Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Ben Stiller