The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), written and directed by Noah Baumbach

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), written and directed by Noah Baumbach

The Meyerowitz Stories are intriguing, funny (when selected), charming (sometimes) and appreciated

Indeed, this film has received the most illustrious nomination of all…, which is not the Oscar for this cinephil:

The Palme D’Or

To conclude early on: there are endearing scenes and characters and we have material that is puzzling.

Dustin Hoffman is the actor at the center of this narrative and his presence does not make the film more appealing.

It is not just more recent accusations…the once super star was a difficult artist to work with and we find details about that in one of the most distinguished, informed, fair, insightful works on the film industry:

Adventures in the Screen Trade

The author of this definitive, extraordinary, authoritative, quintessential and exhilarating work is William Goldman.

The writer has won two Academy Awards and other reputable prizes, for films like Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid and All The President’s Men.

On his work for Marathon Man, William Goldman writes about Dustin Hoffman and his repellent attitude.

In one scene, Hoffman had to reach for a flashlight, in a drawer by the bed, as his brother in the feature is coming late at night into his room, after being fatally wounded and barely reaching Hoffman’s place.

Only the conceited Hoffman would have none of that and insist on asking one question after another, rejecting the move and keeping Roy Scheider at the door, all this long time while the supercilious Dustin did his show.

                What was the meaning of all that?

                The guess is that the hubristic actor did not want his fans to think him less of a macho man, looking for a flashlight when he actually can see in the dark, face any danger, eliminate any nemesis and be a Superman.

In short, a reader of Adventures in the Screen Trade would have that image in the mind, whenever Hoffman is performing and especially so when he has the role of an obnoxious, over bearing, condescending individual.

Harold Meyerowitz, the patriarch of the clan is exactly the type of personage that can make this viewer leave the cinema hall.

Harold is self-absorbed, a father that has neglected children and is not on the level of Tolstoy so that we could forgive to some extent the man, for the masterpieces he gave humankind, although we learn from Intellectuals by Paul Johnson what monsters Leo Tolstoy, Hemingway, Rousseau, Ibsen and others could be.

A recurring theme is that of a sculpture that Harold has created and the story he tells about it, which includes Matthew aka Ben Stiller in the process of making the art work, the child giving the tools and suggesting forms, only to talk about the year of the object and therefore annulling the pride Matthew felt, because he could not have been the one, it had been erected before he was born…

                Then this means it was your brother, Danny!

This scene could be dismissed as a sign of weakening memory, but the fact is that it can also symbolize the character, or lack thereof, the selfishness, the carelessness with which Harold married four women, estranged his children and ultimately caused irreparable harm to family members who have issues.

On the other hand, a more amenable movie buff would insist on other, more endearing scenes, the amusing side of the sculptor who is appreciated by some, even if not an undeniable celebrity in the art world.

For instance, at one point, Matthew has lunch with his father, or more exactly they are trying to eat, as the parent is undecided and horrified by the prices on the menu, until his son says that he would pay the bill, statement which instantly changes the lack of appetite of the artist and he makes a gourmand order, with stake, wine, potatoes and so much more, only to get annoyed by the man sitting next, who places a glass, then something else on their table, ending up with a few items and finally taking Harold’s coat with him.

Father and son chase after the tourist and they insist that they need to exchange coats, since the foreigner had taken the wrong one, and when the man rejects the idea, insisting on keeping the his property, which makes Harold cry that the stub for a theater play proves the ownership and when the man is puzzled by the name of the feature, the sculptor explains the plot, talks about seeing it and we realize that it is actually his own coat and nobody made a mistake… except for him

There is also the insistence on the meeting with Sigourney Weaver, which only took a couple of seconds, but has inebriated Harold, the artistic references (Artsy maybe?) to Stroszek by the wondrous Werner Herzog and the character Bruno from the film, which gives the name to the (ugly?) dog that causes his owner a commotion…

There are scenes to like and many moments that can infuriate- “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” Hamlet.