Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost

Ben Stiller tells the story of his parents—comedy icons Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara—exploring their impact on popular culture and at home, where the lines between creativity, family, life, and art often blurred.

The challenges of balancing home life and work life can be tremendous for those in committed relationships. Those conditions can be made even more difficult for partners who work together, essentially forcing them together 24/7 and never giving them a chance to get away from their circumstances (or one another). And, if they become parents, add to that already-full plate the responsibilities of child rearing, a scenario that can be just as hard on the kids as it is on those attempting to raise them. It’s certainly a gamble whether those spouses and their families can cope and survive, let alone thrive, but, for some, they manage to make it work successfully. So it was for the legendary comedy/acting duo of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, partners in life and work, as well as the proud parents of two successful children who followed in their folks’ professional footsteps. But juggling all that wasn’t easy for Anne and Jerry, as seen in this new documentary memoir, an affectionate but frank tribute from their son, writer-actor-director Ben Stiller. In many regards, this offering is almost as much a release about the filmmaker and his older sister, Amy, and what it was like to grow up in the household of their famous parents. Stiller and Meara, who became a household name in entertainment circles thanks in large part to their frequent appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and successful stints on the nightclub circuit in the 1960s, were a couple that was very much in love but who struggled to manage the demands of their relationship, their household and their careers. For all their devotion to one another and their commitment to their family and their work, their sometimes-rocky road together also included more than its fair share of conflict, counseling sessions, frustrated professional ambitions and ample alcohol consumption, among other challenges. These influences, in turn, rubbed off on the kids during their upbringing, qualities that subsequently and unwittingly carried over into their adult lives when they, too, became spouses and parents. In that sense, then, one could say that this project was as much a therapy session for the filmmaker as it was a candid but endearing homage to a couple that never gave up on making a good life for themselves and their children, no matter how much everyone may have been tested along the way. This truly heartfelt production thus provides an insightful look into their colorful and eclectic world and how it evolved over time and several generations. “Stiller & Meara” is a work characterized by uncensored, authentic feelings, fond familial recollections, an intimate look at the couple’s eccentric pack rat tendencies (hence the picture’s subtitle), and a wealth of memorable, wide-ranging archive footage from the prolific careers of this gifted group of entertainers. Fans of the title characters are sure to admire this endearing but honest tribute, not just for the retrospective of the couple’s repertoire, but also for how they lived their lives as consummate human beings and accomplished professionals. It took work to make all that happen, but, in the end, Jerry and Anne had a lot to show for their efforts, accomplishments from which we have all ultimately benefitted.