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| Naomi Watts stars in While We're Young |
Open the Door (and Let 'Em In)
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Noah Baumbach's comedy While We're Young stars Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts as Josh and Cornelia, a childless New York married couple in their mid-forties. As their other friends all start having children, the couple gravitates toward a young hipster couple named Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried). He's an aspiring documentary filmmaker, a vocation Josh already has. Soon the older couple begins enjoying the energy they feel hanging out with the younger generation, but eventually Josh begins to suspect his new best friend might not be as straightforward and trustworthy as he thought. While We're Young screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
Stiller and Watts battle the demons of getting old ("What is that? A 75 watt?") before befriending the "pathologically happy" Driver and Seyfried. The first hour is hilarious (think Woody Allen, without the music and Woody Allen) but the last half-an-hour slips into a Shakespearean tragedy (at least by comparison) ultimately stripping away some of the good fortune. Kudos to Baumbach for sensational writing and visuals (Charles Grodin standing over a bowl of Oreos is priceless.) Not sure about the detour; but before that, this had Oscar hopeful written all over it. Perceptive, smart and really, really funny.
Grade: B+
