The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) movie review (2017)

After introducing Danny and briefly highlighting his struggles with Harold, “The Meyerowitz Stories” pivots to Danny’s half-brother, Matthew. He’s only mentioned in passing in Danny’s first vignette, and he gets his own set of scenes with Harold before the film merges their plotlines. Unlike Danny, Matthew was no good at anything arty and instead has become a very powerful, very successful financial planner. Matthew ran for the shores of Los Angeles as soon as he could, and didn’t look back. When “The Meyerowitz Stories” takes Harold temporarily out of the picture due to a health scare, a deeper antagonism is revealed between Matthew and Danny. Matthew wants to sell Harold’s current house, a house Danny is attached to despite the fact he did not grow up there. Danny is angry at his brother for leaving.

As the two battle for control and the audience’s sympathy, Baumbach reveals several symbolic comparisons between the two men: Danny has a bum leg but Matthew’s neuroses are just as crippling. Matthew is rich and miserable while Danny is a failure but can at least find a ray of sunshine in his daughter. Eventually, the brothers come to blows in a wrestling match that’s so garish and true-to-life it will immediately conjure up memories for any guy who has a brother.

Observing all this, and occasionally contributing to the story, is Jean. The way “The Meyerowitz Stories” often demotes its funniest character to the sideline is a calculated, though not always successful, attempt at portraying Jean’s odd-man-out status as the only daughter in the Meyerowitz clan. She and Emma Thompson, as Harold’s hippie-ish drunk of a fourth wife, get some of the biggest laughs but still feel underutilized. Baumbach almost makes it up to Marvel when Jean finally gets her own title card and story, the result of which pulls the siblings together in an act of childish mischief disguised as revenge. It’s not enough, however; Marvel is so good in the role that one longs for a lot more of her.

Unlike his prior work, Baumbach is surprisingly humane here. He beats up on his characters, but he also gives them a salve to help heal the wounds. His charity extends to minor characters like Harold’s more successful rival (Judd Hirsch in an endearing cameo) and Harold’s first wife, (Candice Bergen, who gets a great monologue). Baumbach has also finally written a role for Stiller that doesn’t inspire outright hatred. But “The Meyerowitz Stories” shockingly belongs to Sandler, who is absolutely fantastic.