While We're Young Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: While We're Young
Year: 2015
Director: Noah Baumbach
Country: US
Language: English

If conversations with the aged are anything to go by, getting older is a tough business. We are constantly aware of what is happening, yet it tends to sneak up on us when we least expect it. Suddenly what's "in" is "out", what was fascinating is now mundane, and we're constantly trying to catch up with the latest technology. It is happening and will happen to all of us regardless of how much we try to deny it. This is the main peril of the characters in While We're Young.  


Josh and Cornelia Srebnick are a middle aged couple who find their personal, as well as professional, lives dwindling with each passing moment. Things change when they meet a much younger couple who are glaringly hipster. Both couples express their admiration for each other & try to include the opposite in their lives. 

The plot gets somewhat complicated, much involving the ethics of creating a legitimate documentary. Jamie (the younger Adam Driver) offers to assist Josh (Ben Stiller) with his project, and then proceeds both to fool and trump him. The film is full of sharp observations about aging and the desire to remain youthful. Josh tries to mimic Jamie, but only looks like a goof in doing so.Their relationship is a great contrast as it forces Josh to reflect on the man he has become. 

It's always nice to see Ben Stiller embrace a deeper darker role than Hollywood usually gives him (Zoolander anyone?) He lends great weight and an unexpected vulnerability to Josh's insecurities. Naomi Watts also lands a memorable performance in one of the best written female roles of the last decade. I rather enjoyed the variety of film-making styles that Noah Baumbach has injected into this film. It's a comedy, a drama, a romance and a thriller at times. 

While We're Young is very reminiscent of a good Woody Allen movie.  It's engaging, well-written, and thought provoking. While there are many comedies about the mid-life crisis, few are done with the care and sophistication of a Noah Baumbach film.