Review of Youth (2015) by Joel M — 09 Sep 2016

***** Excellent.

Ahhhh, "Youth", if only we can all go back. Well, maybe we can't (of course this only refers to us mid-lifers and geriatrics), but at least we can satisfy ourselves a viewing of a very cerebral and insightful movie about two professional older men vacationing in an exotic grand European hotel; and that would be Writer-Director Paolo Sorrentino's "Youth". The film stars Michael Caine as Fred Ballinger, a retired composer who is pressured by the Queen's parliament to orchestrate one final concierto. Ballinger was famed as a composer of simple songs, but his life is not that simple. He has doubts about his urinary health, mourns about his institutionalized wife, and guilts about not providing enough attention to his daughter in his past due to his obsession with his work. Then there is Mick Boyle played by Harvey Keitel. Boyle is an aging film director who is past beyond his prime, but is working on a movie with a young group of screenwriters. Boyle plans to use his longtime actress muse Brenda Morel as the star of his movie. Sorrento delivers such a beautiful composition of Ballinger and Boyle's friendship in the picture. It was wonderful seeing them discuss so many topics that many seniors would discuss in conversation. Rachel Weisz plays Lena, Fred's daughter and assistant. Lena is going through major heartbreak as her husband has left her for a younger female pop star. Lena is devoted to her father even though she feels a bit of angst for him not being a devoted father in the past. Paul Dano comes in this picture branch as TV actor Jimmy Tree. Jimmy is at the hotel preparing for a role and takes a friendship and mentor-like liking to Fred. Tree is trying to leaves I mean leave his character stereotype of playing a robot in a popular television show. Sorrentino's movie is not for everyone, and it might take a couple of viewings to fully digest it, but his exquisite execution of "Youth" is timeless and beautiful to see. Sorrentino's screenplay was also a delight. Luca Bigazzi's cinematography was big and wondrous. Caine orchestrates a Caine-like performance as orchestra-maestro Fred, but what do you expect? It's Michael "The Man" Caine!! Keitel was adequate as Boyle but a bit outshined by his counterpart Caine. Weisz continues to give stellar performances as she does here as Lena. Oh, I need to save the Tree because Dano's simple work as Tree was also very admirable. But the ultimate scene-stealer in "Youth" was the legendary Jane Fonda as Brenda Morel. Wow! Fonda hit it out of the park, even though she only went to bat once; meaning her role was very brief, but very lasting. So go and live and relive "Youth" with a youthful viewing.