Whatever stage in life he’s at, Noah Baumbach has not
stopped writing characters who fret about their own lives, where they’ve been,
and where they’re headed. I get the feeling he’s a man who is always in tune
with some level of dissatisfaction with his life. One shouldn’t confuse that
with unhappiness. I think it’s probably natural to wonder about what you’ve
done, the choices you’ve made, and whether you could be doing something better
or more important. What separates Baumbach from most other people is that he’s
attuned to those feelings probably in everyone around him. That’s why he’s so
good at writing dialogue and characters that so precisely and concisely sum up
complex emotions.
