By: Aaron Richardson
Despite rarely experiencing much attention, writer and director Noah Baumbach has received critical acclaim for his movies for over 20 years. Noah Baumbach made a name for himself in 1995 with his directorial debut film Kicking and Screaming. A film about the lives of a group of students just out of college, Kicking and Screaming made it clear just how much promise Baumbach had in store.
Though he continued to write and direct movies and shorts for the next 10 years, his next big step was in 2005 when he directed The Squid and the Whale. It was a movie that earned him an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Original Screenplay. Starring Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, and Owen Kline, The Squid and the Whale tells the story of a family going through a divorce. Both deeply comical and emotional, it’s no surprise that the film earned him an Oscar nomination.
One of his more well-known works came from a partnership with acclaimed director Wes Anderson — whose movie The Grand Budapest Hotel, won four Oscars. Fantastic Mr. Fox, the 2009 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel was written by Anderson and Baumbach. This was their second collaboration. Their first was in writing The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in 2004.
Baumbach’s next movie, The Meyerowitz Stories, starring Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Ben Stiller, and Adam Sandler, is set to be released on October 13. A story about an estranged family recently reunited, The Meyerowitz Stories has already received critical acclaim praising both the script and the performances by the cast.
Noah Baumbach blends the comedic with the emotional in an undeniably unique way. His movies often focus on a very specific time in a character’s life. In Kicking and Screaming, he takes a look at the time just after graduating from college, when students try to figure out what they’re doing in life. In The Squid and the Whale, the main characters are struggling through their parent’s divorce. In Margot at the Wedding, Margo attends her estranged younger sister’s wedding.
His stories are often short, and although they rarely end having tied up all the loose ends, it is that exact quality that makes them so evocative and realistic. There is no story in life that can neatly be divided into a beginning, middle, and end. During any significant moment in life, there is a short period of time surrounding it that is deeply emotional and will be remembered for years to come. The effects these moments have on life don’t dissipate once an arc has been completed, or once the story is ‘over.’ They linger. Their effects are sometimes hidden, and sometimes incredibly obvious.
In his movies, Baumbach doesn’t try to show all the effects that these important moments have on his characters’ lives. Instead, he shows the short but important moments that will linger for years to come. His stories might not be neat and tidy. But neither is life. It is that messiness that he captures in a brilliantly unique way. With a talent in making emotionally gripping moments funny, and undeniably hilarious moments strikingly serious, Noah Baumbach is a director well worth your time.
