Review of While We're Young (2015) by Timothy A — 29 Apr 2015

Noah Baumbach's most accessible film to date (if that's saying anything), and up to the minute take on the way one generation makes way for the next that also takes a shot at notions of authenticity and cultural appropriation.

If it has one flaw, it's that the topic of reaching middle-age childless - an inevitable consideration in such an honest piece - is occasionally handled clumsily (would a forty-something man really ask his wife so casually if she wants a child when she's already had failed IVF and multiple miscarriages?) but at the same time the result isn't at all inauthentic, mimicking nothing so much as an ill-mannered dinner party guest saying the wrong thing.

Nonetheless, even the conclusions it reaches on this score are open to debate. The central quartet of excellent performances, even Stiller, and the wryly observant script combine to make this the kind of character study we used to depend on Woody Allen for, albeit with possibly the best vomiting scene in 21st century cinema.