Director Noah Baumbach collaborates with his wife, Jennifer Jason Leigh, to deliver a nuanced character study about a mentally unstable New York transplant taking a break from the rat race in Greenberg, a low-key comedy drama driven by skillful direction, a playfully introspective screenplay, and strong performances all around. Freshly released from a stint in a psychiatric hospital, East Coast carpenter Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) is reassessing his priorities when he arrives in L.A. to housesit for his brother, Phillip (Chris Messina), who's taking his family to Vietnam on a business trip. When Roger meets Florence (Greta Gerwig), his brother's pretty young assistant, both sense a connection that brings them closer together over the following few weeks. But neither are really in the right frame of mind to start anything serious; Florence has just broken off a long-term relationship, and while he's not building a doghouse for his brother's German Shepherd or penning angry tirades to corporate America, Roger is doing his best to reconnect with his former bandmate Ivan (Rhys Ifans) and his old flame Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh), both of whom -- for reasons initially unknown -- seem less than overjoyed to see him. Having built his reputation on being a funnyman, Stiller once again proves he's capable of much more than just making us laugh. He bears an impressive amount of dramatic weight in a role that calls for an actor with a wide -- and somewhat deep -- emotional range. There's no question Roger Greenberg has a sense of humor, though more often than not it gets buried beneath the ever-thickening layers of irresponsibility, anger, and egocentricity that tend to overpower his more endearing traits -- such as the ability to remember small details that are quickly forgotten by others. In many ways, Greenberg is the antithesis of the self-important L.A. stereotype; while he may be prone to making selfish decisions, his mental illness prevents him from recognizing that in doing so he may be adversely affecting the lives of those he cares about most -- and it's here that the supporting players (Ifans and Leigh in particular) really help to give us a better sense of Roger's true character. Their reactions to Roger not only speak volumes about their past experiences with him, but also offer a telling indication of just where his relationship with Florence may be heading. Try as he might to change, Roger can't seem to stop repeating his past mistakes, and isn't quick to accept criticism. If he could only catch the social cues others are giving him, perhaps he'd be better equipped to finally take control of his own life. In terms of plot, it doesn't get much simpler than Greenberg. But by keeping the details sparse, Baumbach and Leigh free themselves up to focus on the key characters, each of whom are richly drawn and emotionally complex. Despite their differences in age and the fact they grew up on opposite ends of the country, Roger and Florence are bonded together by the fact that both of their lives are currently in a state of flux, and neither are quite aware of where they're headed -- either personally or professionally. Their frequent attempts to connect are as awkward as they are sincere, providing us with acute insight into their true natures, and offering Baumbach the opportunity to indulge his impressive talents as a director. The subtle reactions of Roger's friends to his often tiresome rants speak as much to the character's condition as the actual words in the script, ensuring that all of the elements work together to create a cogent character study that uses disarming honesty to explore such issues as the ever-widening generation gap and our capacity for forgiveness. At one point in the film, Ivan laments that he and Roger "never talk about anything good." It's a moment of incisive truth, and a perfect example of how easily we tend to get distracted from real life. The most intimate conversations are the ones that form the strongest bonds. When even our closest relationships take a turn for the superficial, it's good to know we've got filmmakers like Baumbach to remind us how important it is to to have people in our lives who genuinely care enough to breach the topics we sometimes struggle to avoid.
07/29/2019
Arnold’s debut is a lyrical but long-winded portrayal of a woman reckoning with the disappointments of her life. Ash passes her days swimming at a deserted lake with her seven-year-old daughter, Charlie. When she senses Charlie grow distant as she gets older, Ash commits an unforgivable act while trying to reconnect. This sets in motion the crumbling of Ash’s emotional world, revealing memories of an affair with her yoga instructor, a capricious bisexual woman, and a complicated relationship with her father. Ash slips into a depression that confines her to bed, forcing her husband into the arms of a family friend who comes by to care for Charlie. The narrator’s idiosyncratic, troubled personality is expressed through her obsessive interest in sounds and words. During her first date with her husband, she tells him that she collects words, stating that “finding the right word is like finding a pebble on a whole beach of pebbles.” Arnold uses language like a set of dominoes, connecting endings of sentences to beginnings with sounds and phrases to create an artful tumble of prose. However, the novel’s high style comes at the price of momentum, and it becomes opaque to the point of being inaccessible. With very little plot, Arnold’s novel asks questions of profound moral consequence that get lost in the fogginess of its narrator. (July)
Any serious student of Reformed theology needs to sit at the feet of Petrus van Mastricht. The challenge has been that to do so you needed to know Latin or Dutch. Thanks to the herculean efforts of the folks at the Dutch Reformed Translation Society and Reformation Heritage Books, English readers can now learn the art of ‘living for God through Christ.’” —Stephen J. Nichols, president of Reformation Bible College and chief academic officer of Ligonier Ministries
“With each translation of the formative Reformed theologians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries comes the possibility of our churches being renewed by forgotten treasures. This is one of those gold mines. So important is van Mastricht that even Descartes felt obliged to respond to his critiques and Jonathan Edwards drew deeply from the well of his Theoretical-Practical Theology. It is a distinct pleasure to recommend this remarkable gem.” —Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California
“The very title of this work, Theoretical-Practical Theology, indicates why, three centuries ago, Petrus van Mastricht’s work appealed to Scottish ministers who studied under him or read his theology. Not least of these was his student James Hog, who would later famously republish The Marrow of Modern Divinity. In making van Mastricht’s classic available in English for a new generation of students, pastors, and scholars, the Dutch Reformed Translation Society and Reformation Heritage Books are giving a great gift to the Christian church as a whole, and to students, pastors, and scholars in particular.” —Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; and teaching fellow, Ligonier Ministries
