While We’re Young | Noah Baumbach | NYFF 2014
While We’re Young, the latest tale from Noah Baumbach won’t hit theaters until March 27 this year. But it was the surprise secret screening at the 2014 New York Film Festival. Considering how great Baumbachs’s last film Frances Ha was, I was very pleased about the selection.
Based on a script written by Baumbach, While We’re Young focuses on the stagnant middle-aged life of married couple Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts). Josh is a documentary filmmaker who has been struggling to finish his latest film for nearly a decade. His father-in-law Leslie (Charles Grodin) brutally tells him it’s “a six-and-a-half-hour film that’s seven hours too long.” Josh and Cornelia aren’t happy with where they’re at in life, especially when juxtaposed by the couple’s best friends played earnestly by Adam Horovitz and Maria Dizzia, who now have a newborn baby.
A chance meeting with an aspiring documentary filmmaker named Jamie (Adam Driver) change things for Josh and Cornelia, as they become transfixed by the youth that Josh and his girlfriend Darby (Amanda Seyfried) exemplify. While Josh and Cornelia are obsessed with current trends of technology, Josh and Darby go retro, obsessing over vinyl, VHS, and old school typewriters. Their youth rubs off on them, and takes them on an unexpected spin. Jamie wants Josh to help him with his documentary, a film initially about the use of Facebook, but it takes unexpected turns that have Josh questioning everything about his much younger friend.
While We’re Young makes use of his interesting grouped cast in what is one of his funniest features to date. He places them in wonderfully zany situations that make full use of the age disparity between the two couples. But the parade doesn’t last forever, and soon Josh and Cornelia question why these young twentysomethings are really hanging out with them. Baumbach offers a commentary of what authenticity means, both in terms of real life friendship and in a documentary.
Ben Stiller is solid in the leading role, but it’s the performance from seemingly unstoppable Adam Driver that stole the show. Although former Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz’s screen time is far too limited, he shows that he has some legit acting chops to boot. Naomi Watts and Amanda Seyfriend have their own moments, but they’re characters are somewhat undercooked, pushed to the side in favor of their male counterparts.
Baumbach has made his most “mainstream” feature to date, which can be seen with casting Stiller in the lead role. But While We’re Young does have the sprit that Baumbach fans have come to expert, with plenty of charm and humor to go around. It makes full use of it’s brisk 90-minute runtime and will hit at something true and personal, different for each person depending on your age.
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