Adam Sandler (left) and Ben Stiller.
Noah Baumbach has built a canon by depicting the tiny miseries of the idle rich, and his latest film continues in that tradition. What makes The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) different is that it’s been released on Netflix — as one-eighth of Adam Sandler’s movie deal with the media empire.
Like previous Baumbach fare The Squid and the Whale and Frances Ha, The Meyerowitz Stories is a dry, dramatic comedy set in Brooklyn and laser-focused on mostly dysfunctional, self-absorbed characters.
The film revolves around a family reunion precipitated by an art exhibition by patriarch Harold Meyerowitz (Dustin Hoffman). Though siblings Danny (Sandler), Jean (Elizabeth Marvel) and Matt (Ben Stiller) love their emotionally absent father, they all have their own reasons for returning home.
Although — or perhaps because — Baumbach’s work portrays lifestyles of incredible privilege, The Meyerowitz Stories has a good sense of the absurdities that permeate them. The film is at its best in these moments — for example, when Harold’s girlfriend Maureen (a Warhol’d out Emma Thompson) makes offhand reference to her “baby-faced yet sinewy former lover, Willem Dafoe,” or when a visiting couple feigns interest in Harold’s sculptures while clearly examining his house for a potential buy.
Unfortunately, it takes too long for the audience to understand this family. The characters are largely unlikeable and unrelatable, and Baumbach takes his time showing us their hearts. As a result, watching the first half of the movie is an absolute chore.
But thanks to strong performances from the ensemble cast (yes, even Sandler), The Meyerowitz Stories gains its footing, and by its end makes meaningful statements on the value of family and the costs of artistic ego.
