THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED) (2017) ***

I’m a big enough fan of writer/director Noah Baumbach to call The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) slight and lightweight and mean it as a compliment.  It’s a reiteration of themes he’s explored in past films in better, funnier ways.  That in no way diminishes the entertainment value.  It’s frequently funny and insightful, and Baumbach often captures the minutia of a dysfunctional family in a crisis with a documentarian’s eye.  

The structure is a bit obvious, but it serves its purpose nicely.  We first see how failed musician Danny Meyerowitz (Adam Sandler) deals with his set-in-his-ways father (Dustin Hoffman), a sculptor who came close to stardom, but never quite made it.  The next story shows the relationship between Danny’s half-brother Michael (Ben Stiller) and their father.  Then, once their dad goes into the hospital, we see how the estranged brothers get on with one another.

Sandler has almost exclusively been working for Netflix these days.  This is the first of his Netflix movies I’ve seen.  I can’t speak to his performances in those films, but he’s as good here as he’s been in years.  Like Paul Thomas Anderson, Baumbach is able to take Sandler’s man-child schtick and filter it through his unique sensibility.  Their collaboration allows him to play his usual persona while tapping into his gifts as a dramatic performer.  

Hoffman goes all-in with his bristly performance.  I’m sure many folks out there know an immediate family member who acts the way he does, handing out backhanded compliments and misremembering what sibling did what in their childhood.  Stiller (who also played Hoffman’s son in Meet the Fockers) has a more thankless job, but he still delivers a fine performance.  The supporting cast, which features Judd Hirsch, an unrecognizable Emma Thompson, and a funny Adam Driver cameo are all a lot of fun and provide the film with plenty of seasoning.