While We're Young

500 Days Of Film Reviews While We’re Young And Finds An Entertaining Story Of Life And Youth

 

Josh and Cornelia Srebnick (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) are a middle-aged couple living in New York. 

 

As content as they both appear on the outside, inside something has stalled. Something is missing.

 

They just can’t seem to move forward.

 

Having tried but been unable to start a family, Josh and Cornelia begin to lose touch with friends their own age.

 

Then they meet young, free-spirited Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried). Josh and Cornelia  are immediately taken with the young couple’s lifestyle. They seem effortlessly cool and spontaneous. They embrace life and live it to the full. 

 

Inspired, Josh and Cornelia throw their old friends aside and begin to follow the hip young couple. 

 

However, can the group sustain their friendship despite the 20 year age gap? Are Jaime and Darby really as cool as they seem?

Is It Any Good?

I really enjoyed Noah Baubach’s While We’re Young. His story of youth and maturity is smart, interesting and really very funny. 

 

Having watched a number of Baubach's movies in recent weeks (including Mistress America and Frances Ha) I find myself so impressed by his observations on life and his ability to turn these observations into something so enjoyable and entertaining. 

 

 

 

While We’re Young has a distinct Woody Allen feel about it - not just because of the New York setting but because the film has something important to say about life, friendship and love. 

 

Josh and Cornelia feel unfulfilled and so are understandably attracted to the life offered by Jamie and Darby. They make old stuff (the stuff that Josh and Cornelia have thrown away) look vintage, desirable and retro cool. 

 

Stiller and Watts are brilliant as they try to regain their youth and become spontaneous and optimistic. A whole new way of life opens up for them.

 

However, trying to lead someone else’s life - trying to be someone else - is never going to work for long. This leads to a number of very funny and often poignant scenes.

 

Meanwhile, Driver and Seyfried portray the attractive and repellent side of Jaime and Darby. Their lives are seductive and yet, underneath, there lies something false and cruel.

 

Baubach builds this feeling of suspicion and unease - making you wonder if the grass is, in fact, actually greener on their side of New York.

Random Observations

Have you seen While We’re Young?

 

If you have, what did you think about this film?

 

Let me know by leaving me a comment in the box below!


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Jane Douglas-Jones
Jane Douglas-Jones

E: jane@500daysoffilm.com


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