Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83% The Guardian newspaper recently voted Noah Baumbach's indie comedy the 10th best film of 2015, which feels like a massive oversight considering that Mad Max: Fury Road didn't even grace the top 30 (it came in at No. 32, in case you're interested). Starring Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts as a middle-aged couple who befriend a younger, hipper couple played by Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried, While We're Young is a film that starts out well and slowly descends into a product of lesser quality. That hasn't stopped it being praised to high heaven by a large number of critics, all of whom have apparently failed to recognise the jarring tonal shifts in the film's third act that serve to unravel it. What starts out as a believable scenario winds up feeling totally unrealistic, as Stiller's melancholy protagonist finds himself reduced to a ranting buffoon. It's a real shame to take the film into broader territory after the careful build-up of the first two-thirds, which are interesting and funny. What this ultimately means is that While We're Young ends up feeling a bit calculated and fake - almost as if Baumbach's intentions all along had be to vent. It's not a bad film, by any means, but it's a lot shallower than the reviews will tell you.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
