While We’re Young (8/10)
by Tony Medley
Runtime 97 minutes.
OK for children.
This seems to be a new genre, 30- and 40somethings getting
involved with, and being influenced by, 20somethings. Last
year it was Keira Knightley in Laggies. Now this.
Josh (Ben Stiller), 44, and his wife, Cornelia (Naomi Watts; we never
know her age but she’s a contemporary of Josh’s) meet Jamie (Adam
Driver) and his girlfriend, Darby (Amanda Seyfried), who are exuberantly
in their 20s. Josh is a documentary filmmaker who has been working on a
film for eight years. At the time we meet them Josh’s film is seven
hours long and he refuses to cut anything (which is a representative
portrayal of today’s auteur writer/directors). Cornelia is a producer
who works for her father, Leslie (Charles Grodin), who is a famous
documentarian. The relationship between Josh and Leslie is not good.
Josh and Cornelia meet Jamie and Darby and become entranced by their
freedom and youth. Jamie is a free-thinking fledgling documentary
filmmaker and says he’s a big fan of Josh’s, talking knowledgably about
his only film. They become friends and hang out together, which affects
the relationships of Josh and Cornelia with their old contemporary
friends.
The acting is superb. Stiller gives a nuanced performance in a serious
role and he’s ably supported by Watts. Driver is charming and believable
and Grodin hits a home run in his small but important supporting role.
Peter Yarrow, of Peter Paul and Mary, makes what for me was a surprising
and effective appearance as Ira Mandelstam, someone Josh has been
interviewing throughout his years of making his film. Writer/director
Noah Baumbach has created a memorable film out of his astute script.
This is advertised as a comedy, but I didn’t see much funny in it. What
it really is, is the story of idealism facing up to the the way things
are in
the movie industry. The ending is surprising but in touch with the real
world.
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