• Amongst the many pleasures it serves as the best Dustin Hoffman performance in at least 20 years (wag the dog) and perhaps closer to 30 years (rain man in 1988). His Harold is such a mess of ego and insecurities
  • Sandler’s best work since punch drunk love– he’s singled out by almost every critic for his work here- he’s an genuine character, such authenticity- even more so than his work in punch drunk love. I’d love to see him work with Baumbach again
  • The Hoffman character is the films patriarch and I see so many similarities with the Jeff Daniels character in the squid and the whale (still probably Baumbach’s best film). He uses, hilariously, the phrases “feather in my cap” and “it’s a minor work of mine” which I’m pretty sure Daniels did as well. The film is really nothing new- just an updated retelling of the same from Baumbach which many true auteurs do. The film is certainly part squid and the whale (his own work) and owes much to other family drama films (everything from David O. Russell’s work to royal tenenbaums (the casting of stiller as the business-minded son with father issues…hello!) to Hannah and Her Sisters from Woody Allen.
  • Love the Emma Thompson line about Willem Dafoe being a former lover- had me laughing
  • Adam Driver’s scene with Stiller is hilarious, Sigourney Weaver’s scene is really just a cameo of her introducing herself. Candace Bergan has 40 seconds on screen but delivers her line so well- it’s a poignant moment
  • It’s a Dustin Hoffman movie so we have him running here through the streets of NYC (at age 80) just such a wink by Baumbach to cinephiles—I love it. I even think a few of Sandler’s more anger-laden outbursts may be a wink to punch drunk love– not as sure on that one
  • Narrative skeleton given form through the chapter breaks of the characters names in white
  • Werner Herzog hilarious reference (naming of the dog)
  • The family feels so realistic
  • “your kid looks like the young boy in kubrick’s the shining”
  • The highlight of the film is the lunch between Stiller and Hoffman—absolutely uproarious – “it’s my protest”
  • The visual style isn’t as loud and vibrant as most top-10 of the year quality films (it’s not the squid and the whale or frances ha upon first viewing) is given breathe with the dynamic editing choices—mainly—Baumbach chooses to cut right in the middle (back-middle) of yelling or arguing
  • Baumbach uses Sandler’s musical talents and fondness for music
  • Characters often talking past each other and repeating their own same lines and stories like real people do but is rarely seen in cinema
  • Recommend/ Highly Recommend border upon first viewing