Review of Youth (2015) by Brett S — 19 May 2016

There seem to be critics who pile praise up on anything bizarrely nonsensical that appears to take itself seriously. Especially if it's a movie with respectable actors. They may be desperate to have someone respect them for being wise and insightful enough to actually "get" something that no one else does.

But some things are just not get-table.

"Youth" - with Michael Caine, Rachel Weiss, and Harvey Keitel is one of those.

The experience of watching it was like having 6 or 7 long pointless hours squeezed into 2 achingly wasted ones. I'm convinced there was no hidden symbolism (other than that old guys sometimes get their memories confused), no nuanced metaphors; it was just some writer who never sat down and said, "I'd like to write a story about ..." - and hence it was not about anything. Then he handed it off to a director who never reached beyond "Oh - wouldn't it be strange if we put this into it ..." / "Maybe we could have the massage therapist dance slowly in her room at night as if this is somehow important to the story." / "Maybe we could have a brief appearance by a real life pop star using her actual name. - That would make no sense at all. I love it! Let's do that.".

So you end up with a long, tedious, hodge podge, pile on of disconnected but failed attempts at surrealism, but with no central theme, concept, or meaning.

It was like watching a Mennonite stripper. Definitely strange but totally pointless, nothing happens, a frustrating waste of time.