Greenberg

Despite appearances, this film is a romance that celebrates the existence of true love. The film approaches this subject matter obliquely, and comically, but the impact is powerful.

Greenberg, a man "trying to do nothing", winds up caring. The only infelicitous choice here was making the basis of his cynicism, at least in large part, his pathology. This adds little to his struggle to overcome solipsism and detracts from his triumph.

Woman Under The Influence

"Be yourself!" is Nick's fierce refrain in the face of his wife Mabel's breakdown. Yet his efforts only exaggerate her fragile condition, which seems to walk the line between severe pathology and mere social dysfunction. This film's subtle thesis is that our mental life belongs to us, of course, but we share it with the people in our lives and they in turn influence it in a variety of disastrous ways.

In the film, Nick is particularly concerned with his co-workers' impression that his household is normal and functional. And he genuinely loves his wife and children. But in treating them as a means--as the route to social esteem, parental approbation, or personal gratification--he's cruel to them. Mabel isn't innocent, however, since it's never clear why she's so ill equipped to resist the opinions and desires of others in the first place. You can't blame her for being helpless or weak, but isn't her self-indulgence toxic too?

Woman Under the Influence