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Ben Stiller Replacing Mark Ruffalo in Noah Baumbach's Greenburg

by Alex Billington
December 10, 2008

Ben Stiller will replace Mark Ruffalo in the upcoming Noah Baumbach dramedy Greenburg. Oddly, no story synopsis has been released, so we know nothing about the project, save for that it'll be another relationship film like Baumbach's previous: The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding. Amy Adams was also initially set to star in the film, but has reportedly dropped out as well. While Ruffalo's leaving might have to do with the tragedy surrounding his brother, we don't know why Adams left. Stiller is an acceptable replacement, although it will certainly be odd seeing him take on a dramatic role.

In regards to Baumbach, since there's not much else to talk about here, I really liked The Squid and the Whale but heard Margot at the Wedding was awful, although I unfortunately never saw it. I was actually looking forward to Ruffalo and Adams in Greenburg, because I believe Margot failed because of its casting, and Squid succeeded because of its casting. And at the moment, both Ruffalo and Adams are incredibly talented, underrated, underused actors who need more great roles. Now with them gone, I'm just not sure? More importantly, we need to find out more about the actual plot of Greenburg. Anyone know?

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Betterchill

i have no idea what this film is about. what i do know is that i really like mark ruffalo and im not too keen on ben stiller (especially in a dramatic role). it seems like baumbach might have another failure on his hands like margot at the wedding. but i must admit that i love kicking and screaming and the squid and the whale.
http://www.canaltcm.com/infiltrada Infiltrada

Hi: I absolutely loved the squid and the whale but I must say, Margot at the Wedding was NOT awful. Give it a shot and you might be surprised. It's a bit like "Rachel getting married", obviously, and in some aspects I felt it was actually better. It was an interesting film in which family relationships were explored in a very perceptive manner. Kidman was better than I have seen her in a long, and I mean, long time, holding on to a glass of white wine throughout the movie and behaving like a bitch with her son while wearing a loving smile... Just for that it was worth it. Jack Black was the worst casting decision ever and I feel he had a lot to do with the fact that the movie did not do well. I look forward to this new movie and... yes, I would have prefered Ruffalo to Stiller, I think he is a great actor, but Stiller at least is not as bad as Jack Black.
http://pushplaypro.blogspot.com/ McK

Agreed. Margot at the Wedding is certainly not awful. Painful to watch at times? Most certainly. "Awful" could definitely be used to describe Nicole Kidman's character. But a fine character study of people that you may not want to spend that much time with. I think the difficulty with Jack Black in the role was primarily because of the baggage he brings as a Jack Black. It's hard to see him as anything else. He should do something with Peter Weir or Paul Thomas Anderson. The reins they were able to put on Jim Carrey (Truman Show) and Adam Sandler (Punch-Drunk Love) utilized their strengths as performers without a lot of the affectations they seem to bring to almost every role. As for Ben Stiller, I keep hoping he would do more dramatic roles. He gave a really great straight performance in The Royal Tennenabums. When he says to Gene Hackman at the end, "It's been a really hard year,"...kills me. Also, check out Jake Kasdan's (Walk Hard, The TV Set) first film, Zero Effect. He plays a great straight man opposite Bill Pullman. His agent should just filter out any and all scripts that involve him getting attacked by animals. Oh wait...Night at the Museum 2 is coming soon. Sweet!
Tim "Cloverfield"

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
scrooge

OMG! Now that is what I call HUMBUG! Are you sure Amy didn't drop out when the anouncement of Stiller came out? This is Humbug!
D-9

God dammitt! When will this shallow non-talent just go away. As much as I love his parents ( only reason why he is in the business) they are pissing me off just by spawning this offspring. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!