''While We're Young'' is a 2014 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written, produced, and directed by

Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach () (born September 3, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for making witty and intellectual comedies set in New York City and has often been compared to writer-directors such as Woody Allen and Whit St ...

. The film stars Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts,

Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award; making him one of few performers nominated ...

, and

Amanda Seyfried Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she began modeling at age 11 and ventured into acting at 15, with recurring roles as Lucy Montgomery on the CBS soap opera ...

; its plot centers on a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based documentary

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and his wife, a couple in their 40s, who develop a friendship with a couple in their 20s. The film was screened in the Special Presentations section of the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert D ...

, and A24 released it in the United States on March 27, 2015. The film went on to gross more than any of Baumbach's previous films at the US box office.

Plot

Middle-aged couple Josh and Cornelia Srebnick are filmmakers living in a shaky marriage in New York City. Josh has spent the last 10 years struggling on the post-production of his documentary film about leftist intellectual Ira Mandelstam while not letting his producer wife help him with the project. After finishing a lecture at the college where he teaches, Josh is approached by Jamie and Darby Massey, a young couple who invite him and Cornelia out to dinner. Jamie claims to be a fan of Josh's work and the works of his accomplished documentary filmmaker father-in-law, Leslie Breitbart. Josh is immediately awestruck by Jamie and Darby's non-conservative outlook on life as he and Cornelia begin spending more and more time with them, joining in on their

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

lifestyle. An aspiring filmmaker himself, Jamie talks with Josh about their projects, including Josh's own documentary. This inspires Jamie to make a film about connecting with an old high school friend that he found on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

. Jamie and Darby invite Josh and Cornelia to an

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' ( Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' desce ...

ceremony where a hallucinating Cornelia kisses Jamie while Jamie receives Josh's approval in helping with the production of his film. Cornelia agrees to produce the film. Jamie and Josh find the old friend, Kent Arlington, who is in the hospital after a suicide attempt. Josh and Jamie discover that Kent was involved in a civilian massacre during an Army tour in Afghanistan, creating an even bigger story for Jamie's film. While pitching his own film, Josh is dismayed when he cannot engage a potential

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...

investor with the concept of his intellectual documentary. He goes to Leslie for a second opinion. When Leslie's criticisms and suggestions are brought down by Josh, they get into an argument over Josh and Cornelia's inability to have children, as well as Josh calling himself a disappointment to him. Josh attends a party for a screening of Jamie's film, which is met far more positively by Leslie and the hedge fund investor. A jealous Josh argues with Cornelia over Jamie's success, and they separate. Josh meets up with Darby, who is sick of Jamie's increasingly self-centered attitude and tells him about Cornelia kissing Jamie. Josh confronts Cornelia the next morning and denounces Jamie. While teaming up with his editor on cutting his film, Josh comes across footage for Jamie's film, finding evidence that suggests the meeting with Kent was actually staged. Finding him, Kent reveals that he was really friends with Darby, not Jamie, and that he was contacted by Jamie weeks before their shoot. Capturing his confession on camera, Josh goes to Jamie and Darby to confront him only to discover that a fed-up Darby is moving out and that Jamie is at the tribute celebrating Leslie at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

. Josh confronts Jamie in private at the event, admonishing him for compromising the truth and genuineness of his story for dramatic purposes. Josh forces Jamie to admit the truth to Leslie, who excuses it, saying that it's a good story regardless of the fabrication. Defeated, Josh admits to Leslie he was right about the edits needed on his film. Outside, Josh and Cornelia reconcile. One year later, Josh and Cornelia drive to the airport for a flight to

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti where they will adopt a newborn baby. Josh finds an article in a magazine lauding Jamie as a filmmaking genius, which Cornelia and Josh pass off by admitting, "He's not evil, he's just young." They then watch a young child at the gate playing with an iPhone, studying him as if to imply that yet another generation with disparate ethics and morals is approaching.

Cast

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

appears as an MC at an event celebrating Leslie Breitbart, and Greta Lee voices a

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pla ...

interviewer.

Production

Filming

The film was spotted shooting on September 17, 2013 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Music

The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

was composed by James Murphy. # "Golden Years" – James Murphy # "Concerto for Lute, 2 Violins and Continuo in D, RV. 93" –

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread ...

# " All Night Long (All Night)"–

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recor ...

# "Buggin' Out" –

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

# " The Ghost in You" –

The Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scen ...

# "The Inch Worm" –

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

# "Only the Stars Above Welcome Me Home" – James Murphy # " Falling (Duke Dumont Remix)" – Haim # "

Eye of the Tiger "Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The son ...

" – Survivor # "Andante du Concerto Pour Flautino en ut Majeur" (from the MGM film ''The Wild Child'') –

# " Waiting for a Girl Like You" – Foreigner # "

Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (sometimes written as "1985") is a song by the British–American Rock music, rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released as the final track on their 1973 album ''Band on the Run''. It has been featured on the 2 ...

" – Paul McCartney & Wings # "We Used to Dance" – James Murphy # " Golden Years" –

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Release

The film premiered at the

on September 6, 2014. Shortly after, A24 acquired distribution rights to the film for $4 million.

Box office

The film opened in

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unit ...

on March 27, 2015 and earned $227,688, ranking number 24 in the box office that weekend. On April 17, the film was given a

wide release In the American motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across the country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical r ...

and grossed $1,438,384, ranking number 12. The film eventually grossed $7,587,485 domestically, more than all of Baumbach's previous films in the United States box office.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 84%, based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 7.32/10. The site's consensus is "Poignant and piercingly honest, ''While We're Young'' finds writer-director Noah Baumbach delivering some of his funniest lines through some of his most relatable characters." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 77 out of 100, based on reviews from 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Peter Debruge of ''Variety'' wrote: "Though While We’re Young is primarily a comedy — and a very funny one at that, managing to be both blisteringly of-the-moment and classically zany in the same breath — Baumbach has bitten off several serious topics, for which laughter serves as the most agreeable way to engage." Richard Roeper of the

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

wrote: "If While We’re Young hadn’t gone quite so broad at the finish line, it would be a contender for my favorite movie of the still-young year." Todd McCarthy of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' called it a "mostly engaging but only fitfully inspired serio-comedy."

Notes

The film opens with a quote from Henrik Ibsen's play ''

The Master Builder ''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works. Performance The play was published ...

.''

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:While We're Young 2014 films 2014 comedy-drama films 2014 independent films A24 (company) films American comedy-drama films American independent films Films about adoption Films about film directors and producers Films about marriage Films directed by Noah Baumbach Films produced by Scott Rudin Films set in 2014 Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Midlife crisis films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films