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It’s ironic that so many fans of Wes Anderson find the films of Whit Stillman, Noah Baumbach, and Hal Hartley, to be made in poor taste. The common complaints really are ones that should be lobbed at Anderson ten-fold; contrived dialogue, forced melancholy, too quirky for its own good, etc. Granted, I appreciate Anderson’s films, and I will admit that he has a sense of composition and framing is far superior to the aforementioned directors. But to deny these influences on him is absurd, which brings me to the subject of Baumbach’s debut.

In all honesty, I can’t really say that it’s a visually charming film. It’s stylistically simplistic, but it isn’t terrible. And as far as the contrived dialogue goes, forced dialogue doesn’t always make for a terrible film. Sometimes it has it’s place. There are just so many great lines in here. Not to mention the fact that these are all Vassar post-grad students. Seriously, it’s a fucking New York State liberal arts college. What sort of dialogue do you really expect from such a group? It’s dated, sure, but that is hardly a relevant argument against it. And if you dislike contrived dialogue, you may as well dismiss two of Baumbach’s ostensible comic influences; Ernst Lubitsch and Preston Sturges.

I’ve noticed a similar problem with the critical reception Whit Stillman’s films, especially Metropolitan; if I had a nickel for every single time I’ve heard someone go on a tirade about how the film is a sympathetic portrayal of a bunch of status-climbing Republicans, then I’d be as rich as the members of the Urban Haute Bourgeoisie. I really think that Stillman’s stance on his characters is neutral, yet I’ve heard so many gut-reaction polemics on this film, concerning that particular subject. And Baumbach’s characters are, more or less, exactly like these people. He deliberately makes films about elitist, East-coast intellectuals.

Kicking and Screaming really just is a thoroughly enjoyable film. Eigeman was in his prime here, not to mention Carlos Jacott and his delightfully absurd performance. The gen-X cliches are, well, cliches really. It’s pretty much impossible to look back on any film about young people that was made in the early nineties that successfully avoided that sort of thing. And better Kicking and Screaming than something like Singles.

Yet I’ve talked to people who can’t stand these directors, especially Baumbach, but just adore people like Anderson and Linklater. Who knows? Maybe it’s simply a generation gap, one less applicable to Linklater. I simply think that Baumbach deserves a little more credit than he has received. Especially considering the interesting direction that his subsequent films have taken. I’d hardly say that he hasn’t improved since this film. And, I’m going to have to be cheap here, but if no one else seems to agree with me, then at least I know that Jonathan Rosenbaum still does…

http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/440

Indie comedy from writer-director Noah Baumbach has a lot of great, clever dialogue, and effectively creates an atmosphere of post-grad desperation – but the characters and story are just not compelling enough to sustain it. The cast is serviceable (even though they all look about 5 years older then they’re supposed to be) but it doesn’t really stand out from the slew of indie conversational comedies about early adulthood that popped up in the mid-90s based around incessant Gen-X whining. Baumbach would go on to make much better movies.