Glib
Written/Directed by: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin
Swift shot: When I watch a Ben Stiller film, I expect certain things out of it, but mainly I want to be entertained and feel like the characters have an actual stake in the story. If they don’t come across as genuine, they’ve lost me. That was what I felt watching While We’re Young – it was made for the older audiences. And, the whole film was devoid of sincerity but I did chuckle a few times at Stiller’s ridiculous attempts at trying to be young. Plus, this is something I don’t take lightly, a documentary must always aspire to be honest, otherwise you might as well be watching scripted “reality TV” garbage.
Ben Stiller plays Josh, a documentary film-maker, and professor of film, that has been working on the same boring documentary for eight years. It is his Bolero, seemingly endless, repetitive and boring as watching snails hump in an arid garden. His wife, Cornelia (Naomi Watts) is barren and wants more out of life than just marking-time while her dud husband sputters along in mediocrity. She’s bored; he’s boring, and I was already rooting for a meteorite to come down and smite them both for their pretentious insincerity. Like his film is going to bring down the Industrial-Military-Political machine. HA!
Then, thankfully, something interesting happens. Along comes Jamie and Darby, played by Adam Driver (Semper Fi) and Amanda Seyfried respectively. They are a young, pre-pupa married couple that are enamored by Josh’s class and body of work . . . which isn’t much. In fact, it is near impossible to find his films in circulation. The intellectual cajolery begins, as Josh and Cornelia start to develop a real relationship with this crazy hipster couple.
And boy is Jamie a hipster, he’s got things in his home he made himself, he’s got an eclectic collection of records, and a record player. He hosts “Street Beach” parties and only rides a bike unless he needs to travel long distances. He’s cool without trying. Adam Driver is like no one else in Hollywood right now; he’s tall, and strong, lanky and magnificently in control of his acting skills, especially his physical nuances. Watch him on screen, you’ll see what I mean. And, I still think he would be best suited playing a villain in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but I digress.
Did I mention the film is glib? I am not a fan, nor a detractor of Noah Baumbach, but if I had to surmise my opinion of him based on this one film, I would have to say . . . meh. While We’re Young expected itself to be entertaining, and it showed on screen. The lackadaisical writing and overtly-whimsied characters detracted from what could have been a significant film. It will fade into obscurity as, no doubt, will this review of it.
The one shining star in the film was Ryan Serhant who played this uber-enthusiastic rich dude who wants to throw money at anything remotely exciting. His acting was the tone I felt the whole movie should have embraced, rather than the dour, soulless meandering mess it was. I mean, put some balls in your work, Serhant sure did!
What was worst of all is that no one seemed to care that no one seemed to care. Charles Grodin, one of my favorite actors growing up, always plays a kind of pragmatic straight-man, but his character left me uninspired and when the big “dramatic” moment happens in the film . . . I, like his character, didn’t give a rat’s ass. I suppose it was amusing, at times, watching Watts and Stiller fumble around at trying to be cool.
Again, I wanted to root for the characters, but I just found myself not really connecting with any of them, except for the one scene with Cookie O’Puss and what’s her duck, Hemingway who never wore pants and her shirts exemplified how the filmmakers think about status etc, and that was how I felt, like I should be wearing a shirt that said “At some random film screening.” If you don’t care about your film, why should we?
