Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver
Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
Synopsis:
Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts shine in this fresh and insightful comedy from filmmaker Noah Baumbach. After Josh (Stiller) and his wife Cornelia (Watts) meet a free-spirited twenty-something couple (Driver and Seyfried), they adopt a new lifestyle complete with hip-hop dance classes and mind-expanding parties. But with each hilarious attempt to act young, Josh and Cornelia start to appreciate the rewards of growing old together.
Josh (Stiller) and Cornelia (Watts) are in their forty’s and starting to feel their age in a few ways both physically and emotionally, especially when they and their long time friends who’ve just had a child feel to be drifting apart due to drastic differences in their lives, largely as a result of children. Already beginning to feel their age and these changes yet unwilling to accept them, the two randomly meet a younger married couple (Driver and Seyfried) who completely enthrall them in their younger attitudes along with their refreshing love of all things classic, seemingly unaffected by today’s technology craze unlike the majority of today’s world. As wonderful and enjoyable as everything is, when Josh starts to assist the couple in their related work of making documentary films and as a result learns a bit more about them, he begins to question himself and his motivations for what he and his wife have been doing, in addition to the innocence of their friendship.
Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg) wrote and directed ‘While We’re Young’ and he does a marvelous job at the helm guiding his own script with perfect pacing and grace. The film is also greatly complimented by the incredibly talented individuals who comprise the cast (and really the heart and soul of the film) including Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin and a number more, all of whom deliver exceptional performances in each of their respective roles, really causing you feel along with these characters.
‘While We’re Young’ is a wonderfully crafted film, both in its writing and execution; finally the perfect choices for the casting only seal the deal. It’s not only smart and witty, but frequently hilarious and unapologetically real in its handling and delivery of real life matters. It’s a rare treat for a film to be so simultaneously funny, heartwarming and relatable, yet somehow ‘While We’re Young’ not only accomplishes the task, but does so with what feels like incredible ease. Overall, ‘While We’re Young’ is a noteworthy and incredibly fun film. I would very highly recommend giving it a watch as it’s certainly worthy of a rental at the very least.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘While We’re Young’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic as a whole, delivering a sharp, detailed and spot-on presentation, holding up throughout without any qualms, even during the few fast moving or darkly lit sequences. Overall, this is a top notch high definition video presentation that looks fantastic from start to end and shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds great and while it may not be overly active throughout the films entirety (certainly not unexpected for this type of movie) it utilizes all five available channels on a number of occasions to really accentuate the music, along with some other random and more natural auditory moments, while always making certain that any dialogue that might be occurring simultaneously is never negatively affected or rendered inaudible in any way. Overall, this 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack delivers in every way required of it and is a perfect addition to this wonderfully enjoyable film.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘While We’re Young’ doesn’t include a great deal of bonus content, although it does include a few fun extras. Included on the release are a number of short Featurette’s that explore different aspects of the film and feature interviews with members of the cast and crew. The included Featurette’s are ‘The Cast’; ‘Director Noah Bambach’; ‘Charles Grodin’; and ‘Generation Tech’ and they run just over 7 minutes in length altogether. Two additional short ‘Behind the Scenes’ Featurette’s focusing on two scenes from the film are also included: ‘Ayahuasca Ceremony’ and ‘Hip Hop Class’ (approximately 1 minute each).
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.
Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
‘While We’re Young’ is now available to own on Blu-ray and DVD from A24 & Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Purchase your copy of the Blu-Ray on Amazon at a discounted price (while also supporting our site) by clicking on the Amazon cart Icon immediately below!
