Review of While We're Young (2015) by Matt R — 26 Nov 2017

The writer/director of this movie, Noah Baumbach, made his screenwriting and directorial debut in 1995 with Kicking and Screaming (not the one starring Will Ferrell) and he co-wrote the cult hits The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Fantastic Mr. Fox along side acclaimed writer/director Wes Anderson. More recently he produced and directed DePalma, a documentary about the legendary Brian DePalma, and he wrote and directed The Meyerowitz Stories with Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler.

In While We're Young, Ben Stiller plays a documentarian who is struggling to finish his near decade long film project. He and his wife (played by Naomi Watts) meet a young hipster couple (Adam Driver & Amanda Seyfried) who quickly become much more interesting and enjoyable to be around than their best friends, a long time married couple with a newborn. On top of this, Stiller's character is spiteful towards his father-in-law and renowned documentarian Charles Grodin, who is everything he wishes he could be. Stiller wrestles with these opposing forces of young and old, ambitious and accomplished, as he and his wife try to figure out the best path for their own lives.

To me, this movie is about a mid-life crisis and the search for truth. It explores the question of how one should go about creating a life worth living. Is it about accomplishment or enjoying the journey? What's more important; the process or the end result? Is there a correct and incorrect way to live? Is there such thing as absolute truth?

Overall, I loved it. For me, it struck that perfect balance between entertaining and thought provoking. This is the first film I have seen that was directed by Noah Baumbach and I am so excited to dig deeper into his canon of work.