The Meyerowitz Stories

At first glance, this film comes across as very surface level. You're simply following different members of one family as they live their lives; there's nothing innately profound in that. But beneath the surface, there's all of this bubbling emotional depth that makes this a very rich film. While you're only witnessing a snapshot of these people's lives, you get such a well-rounded understanding of what their whole lives have been like. Without you realizing it, you're given fleshed out, three dimensional characters, a rich and detailed history between each of the characters, and a compelling story that you want to see more of. Writer/director Noah Baumbach very subtly gives you all of this depth that does not appear to be there, and it makes for a far more thought-provoking movie. With that, the film is incredibly arcane, as you know that there is a lot more between the lines of the film, but it's hard to discern what exactly it is. And maybe Baumbach doesn't want you to know everything. Maybe a lot of things are meant to stay in the dark, which makes this a really interesting and compelling film to watch. Many will watch this movie and see it as surface level. It may even come across as boring to some, just because nothing monumental happens plot wise. All of the exciting moments come from inter- personal character moments and revelations, and seeing family dysfunction and dynamics play out on screen...