While We’re Young

Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 97 mins. Reviewed in Apr 2015

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Rating notes: Coarse language

Gently amusing yet endlessly perceptive, ‘While We’re Young’ is a showcase for the talents of its terrific cast and writer-director Noah Baumbach.

Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are a married couple in their mid-40s living in New York City. Josh is a documentarian who has spent the past decade stuck on one project, and he is running out of ideas and resources to get it finished. They have no children, though they have tried repeatedly in the past with no success, and have come to embrace their childfree lifestyle.

At the end of one of his lectures, Josh is approached by Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried), a younger couple living in their neighbourhood. Jamie is a budding filmmaker too, and Being exposed to these ‘kids’ in their mid-20s revitalises Josh and Cornelia, and soon they are caught up hip-hop dance classes, dressing trendily, hallucinogenic shaman trips and walking through abandoned train lines. Josh is enthralled by their lifestyle, and convinces Cornelia to become close with them, to the detriment of their relationships with their older friends who are now having kids and taking on more responsibility.

Ben Stiller makes for an engaging lead. Though he can seem to slip out of his role on occasion, his journey always feels like an organic discovery of his own failures and shortcomings, and his comic timing is always optimal. Naomi Watts is equally watchable, struggling to keep up with her husband and the younger couple, layered with an indefinable sadness at growing up. Adam Driver is an absolute magnet for your attention at all times. His screen presence is animalistic and wild, absorbing yet almost grotesque – he is given the most interesting character in the film, and his skills do justice to Baumbach’s writing. Finally, Amanda Seyfried is incredibly natural in a smaller role, swept up in the wake of her unstoppable husband, and enjoys an unexpected revelation of depth when she openly discusses her marital situation with Josh.

The film takes a bit of a paranoid, almost conspiracy-theory turn when Josh realises that perhaps Jamie isn’t really as friendly as he first appears, and may be using their friendship to advance his own career. There is a quality of tragedy to the proceedings, as the older couple’s desperation to rediscover their own youthfulness may be a fanciful and fruitless quest. Meditations on technology and aging abound, but the film largely plays as a lighter character study.

Noah Baumbach is, first and foremost, a wonderful writer. He has penned some of contemporary independent American cinema’s instant classics, such as ‘Frances Ha’ and ‘The Squid and the Whale’. Though it suffers from maybe too much happening (the wave of paranoia feels a little unnecessary in its surroundings), it works its way around the classic pitfall of many indie films – adding quirkiness for the pure sake of it. Here, the young bohemians are utilised to craft the story and drive the narrative, justifying the quirk factor which is so apparent. Finally, it is a funny movie. I imagine it will play better with older audiences who can sympathise with Josh and Cornelia, but as a younger filmgoer I had plenty to engage with.

It’s not a film which demands attention to itself, nor will it get much outside of the smaller cinema chains in Australia. It seems destined to become a great choice to rent on DVD or catch up on when flying – but if growing up means accepting things as they are and not aspiring to that which is impossible, then this fate feels appropriate for the film. It comes recommended.