WHILE WE'RE YOUNG
Starring Ben Stiller, Adam Driver, Naomi Watts
Directed by Noah Baumbach
Having demonstrated a newfound vibrancy with 2012's Frances Ha – an ebullient collaboration with new (and notably younger) professional and personal partner Greta Gerwig that dove headlong into the quagmire of post-graduate adulthood – fortysomething Brooklyn-raised writer-director Noah Baumbach now helms what's presumably a somewhat personal tale concerning a, urm, fortysomething filmmaker falling in with twentysomething Bushwick-dwelling hipsters.
Ten years into making his latest documentary, Josh (Ben Stiller) has been reduced to teaching continuing education courses at a community college. It's on this unglamourous stage that he crosses paths with Jamie (Adam Driver), a fledgling filmmaker who professes to be a fan of Josh's work. Not accustomed to such declarations, Josh is immediately smitten. Having earned himself a free dinner from Josh and his wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts), Jamie reciprocates by initiating the couple into the boho world of analog technology, ayahuasca rituals and artisanal ice cream he inhabits with his wife Darby (Amanda Seyfried).
After amping Stiller's customary neurotic bearing to toxic levels in Greenberg, Baumbach initially aspires to more playful satire here with an anxiety addled protagonist who prides himself on operating withing “the realm of spontaneity.”
Pairing Stiller with an actor as eminently comfortable in his own skin as Driver renders Josh's rampant envy all the more convincing. And while watching this well-observed study in physical and philosophical contrasts could've simply served as sublime entertainment (the opening 60 minutes are frequently uproarious), Baumbach boldly – and seamlessly – transitions his narrative into an intriguing debate regarding authenticity, opportunism and ethical responsibility.
Ultimately, While We're Young serves as a striking example of how a filmmaker can mature gracefully, growing more generous with the audience but staunchly refusing to sacrifice any storytelling ambition.
