Netflix Star-Studded Original Is Beloved Filmmaker’s Underrated Best

The Meyerowitz Stories was written and directed by Noah Baumbach, and serves as the filmmaker’s first of many Netflix originals. Before the movie was released on the Netflix platform, it was submitted to compete for the Palm d’Or at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where it received a 4 minute standing ovation and ultimately took home the Palm Dog.

The film’s cast includes Hollywood heavy hitters such as Adam Sandler, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Emma Thompson, Elizabeth Marvel, Sigourney Weaver, Judd Hirsch, and frequent Noah Baumbach collaborator Adam Driver.

The narrative of The Meyerowitz Stories centers on the dysfunctional Meyerowitz family, headed by the eccentric patriarch and retired art professor Harold, as portrayed by Dustin Hoffman. Harold’s adult children each have their own quirks and neurosis, which are demonstrated as they each visit their family home in New York and interact with each other in a series of semi-related vignettes.

These stories all begin to come to a head when Harold goes into a coma for a chronic brain bleed, causing the family to scramble to adjust to life without his daily dose of snark and condescending remarks.

During this period, the remaining members of the family are shown to fight with one another, make up, and face all manner of trials and tribulations in between.

The film offers an insightful look into familial relationships, trauma bonding, and the eccentricities of a large blended family. All the while, The Meyerowitz Stories maintains excellent shot composition and interesting blocking, though the A-list performances and quirky writing are obviously the star of the show.

Today, The Meyerowitz Stories maintains a 92 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, though the film has been culturally overshadowed by Baumbach’s 2019 follow up Marriage Story.

Marriage Story is an exceptional display of filmmaking in its own right, but for my money, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) is the best all-round project that Noah Baumbach has ever helmed.

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Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller’s performances in particular are major high points of the film, as each of the comedic actors manage to bring some hard-hitting drama to the screen, with tons of gravitas.

The duo have each expressed in interviews that they loved playing half-brothers in the movie, and Sandler has since remarked that he’d be excited to join any other movie with Baumbach at the helm after his enjoyable experience shooting The Meyerowitz Stories.

For those who have not yet had the chance to catch this stunning dramatic comedy, or those just in need of a rewatch, The Meyerowitz Stories is currently streaming on Netflix.