When I came out of the cinema I didn't know how I felt about this film. I met up with Poly and told her I didn't love it and a I didn't hate it and I needed to think about it a bit more to decide.
It is about Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) who is recovering from some so sort of break down and is asked to house sit for his brother and his family in LA while they are on holiday. It is a return home after 10 years living in New York. He catches up with some old friends, old girlfriends and has a relationship of sorts with his brothers PA, the awkwardly charming Florence (Greta Gerwing).
Roger has no redeeming features. He is self obsessed, rude and insensitive but not in a funny way, well maybe very occasionally. He is quite horrid to Florence and to his oldest friend who for some inexplicable reason has stayed loyal to him.
From what you learn of his past, he hasn't changed much over the years - there doesn't appear to be any pivotal event to explain his behaviour and by the end he hasn't really changed. And that is why I'm beginning to wonder what the point of the film is and why I think I can say now, that on reflection, I didn't really like it that much.
Some other views:
The Telegraph gave it two stars and concludes that it has nothing to say and that seems to be it's goal
Screen Rant gave it four out of five curiously comparing it to Garden State which, incidentally, I think is a far superior film purely because it has heart, and concluding by saying: "It’s certainly not the feel-good film of the year, but it’s a powerful account of how a few lost souls find meaning and direction in life."
Rotten Tomatoes UK gave it a rating of 73%
Metacritic rated it 76 out of 100 although interestingly the user rating is 4.4/10
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