Josh Reviews Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost

Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost is a documentary directed by Ben Stiller that explores the careers & lives of his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

I first encountered Jerry Stiller in Seinfeld, where he oh-so-memorably portrayed George’s dad Frank Costanza.  And I always thought he was fantastic in the original The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.  But going into this documentary, I knew very little about Anne Meara.  Discovering the depth of her talent and her long career in comedy was one of the many pleasures of this film!

Stiller & Meara charts the multi-decade careers of both Jerry and Anne, focusing a lot on their early days as a comedy duo.  The Stiller and Meara team were quite a hit throughout the sixties and seventies.  It’s a pleasure getting to see lots of clips of their performances on an array of TV shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show and Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.  I loved their act!  It’s a great “odd couple” routine between the cranky, Jewish Stiller and the jovial, Irish Meara.

Jerry would have a late-in-life return to the spotlight, after Seinfeld.  Suddenly he was a well-known face, and he parlayed that into a number of different film and TV roles.  Ms. Meara did not have a similar return to fame, though it’s clear in this film that Ben (and his siblings) have a lot of love and appreciation for their mother — both for her talent, and also for the essential role she played in their family.

I like the way the film balances this look into Stiller and Meara’s professional life and their personal/family life.  It seems that Jerry Stiller was something of a pack-rat — there are scenes in the doc of Ben and his sister Amy sorting through the mountains of photos, videos, and other memorabilia from a lifetime in showbusiness — and the doc benefits from our being able to see lots of snippets of home movies and photos of the Stillers’ family life across the decades.

Interestingly, Ben Stiller seems as interested (if not more) in exploring the secrets of the success of his parents’ 60-year-long marriage as he is at shining a light on their professional successes.  Ben shares in the documentary that his own marriage, to Christine Taylor, has not been as successful, with the two having separated (though I believe they reconciled during the pandemic — the film wasn’t entirely clear on that).  He also gives a voice to his & Christine’s children, Ella and Quinn, who are also able to reflect on the complications of living with parents who are both performers in show business.  There is clearly a lot of love in this family, but there are complications as well.

This is the “hook” of the documentary that separates it from other bios of famous and talented stars.  It’s interesting to see how Ben Stiller uses this exploration of his parents’ lives and marriage to also explore his own, and how he allows three generations of the Stiller family to have a voice in the proceedings.  While some of this might be a little naval-gazing and self-absorbed, I thought the overall effect was a fascinating exploration of a very interesting family.  And thankfully, Ben Stiller keeps a fairly light touch on things — the film unfolds at a brisk pace, and there are lots of funny clips among the more dramatic moments.

Though I should comment that, while the film is funny, there is a distinct thread of melancholy that runs through it.  (I think this can be found in a lot of Ben Stiller’s work, actually).  His parents have both passed away, and his own marriage doesn’t seem as perfect as his parents’ was.  (Though the doc does admit that Jerry and Anne also had their problems and their arguments.)  The Nothing is Lost title feels almost like a wish, like a hope, though perhaps not actual reality.  In reality, people die, marriages don’t always work out, and even a great comedic talent like Anne, who was once famous, can fade into obscurity.  I was intrigued by the way in which the doc embraces that duality.

I’m glad to have seen it!  I’m particularly happy to have more of an appreciation for Anne Meara in particular.

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