Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse. Spoilers will be included in this review.
While We’re Young, is a comedy-drama from writer and director Noah Baumbach, it stars Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, and Amanda Seyfried. The plot follows a middle-aged couple’s career and marriage which is overturned when a disarming young couple enters their lives, who may or may not be more then they appear.
Under The Lens: Morality
Morality: The most intriguing thing about Noah Baumbach‘s picture is its morality and the tapestry on which the script’s moral framework is woven. At the start, we see Ben Stillers “Josh” as a sort of a moral perfectionist, he does what he views as right and has seemingly given up on a promising career as a Documentary Director because he did not want to become his wife’s father was (A famed Documentary Director). When Adam Driver’s Jamie comes along Josh is captivated by him, until he finds that Jamie has lied and manipulated Josh in order to get closer to his father in law and make his own documentary.
In a fit of righteous anger, Josh exposes Jamie to his father in law and Jamies financial backs, only to discover that no one cares that he lied and fudged the details a bit in his film. The picture seems to want to tell us that morality is grey and that success requires a bit of adjusting, we see that Jamie is doing just what Josh’s father in law did, and in the end, Jamie made the exact movie that Josh always envisioned, but was not willing to compromise for. At the conclusion of the picture, Josh has compromised on his decade in-production documentary, his wife has compromised on their personal life.
While We’re Young, does not seek to tell us what is right or what is wrong, instead, it tells us that life comes in stages, and perhaps what is right in one stage is wrong in the next. Josh waxes poetic about Jamie in the final scene saying that “Maybe he was not a demon he is just young”, the Hipster lifestyle bothers Josh as he views Jamie as “Stealing” what was his, however, we see that to Jamie life as a whole is made up of experiences that everyone owns, which is why he felt he could encroach on josh’s professional relationships. Josh comes to recognize that he is in another stage in life one he needs to enjoy because by embracing his moral perfectionism he has missed out on life, never reaching his full potential.
Highlights
Adam Driver is electric as the hipster Jamie, who is at once a soft-spoken friend yet a cunning manipulator.
The picture showcases a look at middle age and young adulthood, one that is both realistic and whimsical.
The cast is stacked with character actors, all of which are a delight to watch, none more so than the famed Charles Grodin.
Something to think about
Do you think that morality is adjustable and right and wrong are defined by what age and era you are in?
Conclusion
Overall While We’re Young is a bitingly funny and painfully nostalgic picture. Its characters are both trapped in the past and running to the future, I can’t help but wonder if writer and director Noah Baumbach was writing a bit about himself, as at the time of this pictures release his career is middling and somewhat stalled, and in Hollywood one is often watching the young overtake the older veterans (Thankfully the upcoming The Meyerowitz Stories looks to maybe change that!). In the end, While We’re Young asks us sobering questions that lead to uncomfortable truths, its script is anchored by good performances by its cast, and a zoomed-in look at New York City. Give it a watch, you may be surprised what you find out about yourself.
