‘Meara & Stiller: Nothing Is Lost,’ a NYFF movie about the ‘Severance’ director’s famous mom and dad, could be the humanist doc of the season.
In his new documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, Ben Stiller offers an intimate and in-depth look at his famous parents, Jerry Stiller and Annie Meara. The film, which premiered at the New York Film Festival, combines the emotional narrative of American comedy with an exploration of marital and parental relationships and their complexities.
To an older generation, they were simply the comedy duo on The Ed Sullivan Show, and to a younger generation, Jerry was the angry father of George Costanza on Seinfeld. For Ben, his parents were much more: two loving and complex people at the same time.
Stiller documents his parents’ lives in all their details, including the bright moments on camera, as well as the darker shades, such as Annie’s alcoholism and Jerry’s preoccupation with work at the expense of the family. The film also shows Jerry’s absolute loyalty to his wife, and how this can blind him to some of the negatives of her behavior and its impact on the family.
The documentary’s most powerful moments come when Stiller turns the camera on himself and his family, raising questions about how often parental mistakes are repeated and how much can be learned from the past. During the making of the film, Stiller, as his children grow up, realizes that he has repeated some of his father’s mistakes, as evidenced by a poignant moment when his 20-year-old son, Quinn, tells him he feels his parents came second to his work, just as he felt with his father, Jerry.
The film depicts a double life that never ceased to exist, as did his parents in the comedy crew, and addresses the difficulty of separating the couple’s lives from their careers. His wife, Christine Taylor, also appears with her deep, insightful voice, adding layers of understanding to family relationships and shared work.
The film takes place in the Stiller family’s Upper West Side apartment, where Ben and his sister, Amy, return after their father’s death to organize their belongings in preparation for the sale of the house. This scene reveals the human side of the process of losing a family member, even one who is world-famous.
The film began as a simple, personal project, but as Ben showed the footage to his friends and colleagues, he realized he needed to dig deeper and reveal himself. Although he sometimes felt frustrated by the repetition of parental mistakes, the film has great power in its honesty and recognition of human frailty, demonstrating how exploring and delving into the past can preserve memories and values.
