Noah Baumbach is becoming an expert in this kind of quirky little movie centered on irritating characters who are seen as inexplicably adorable by the public (like Frances Ha), and even if it is funny and enjoyable, I really can't relate to most of its ideology that young people are idiots.

A middle-aged couple befriends a younger couple and embarks on a documentary project. Writer/director Noah Baumbach fashions a simple but affecting story contrasting youth and mortality, balanced with a rather pedestrian story about the making of a documentary. It's clear that he wants to explore the former group of themes and occasionally digress into pedantry about the nature of art in documentary films, but While We're Young's primary strength is that it avoids too much didacticism. Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, and Amanda Seyfried all give excellent performances, but it's Stiller who most clearly understands Baumbach's unique blending of character development and thematic exploration, and his performance is the most honed -- probably the result of his experience in other Baumbach films. The film's resolution (its final moments, not the genius send-up of "the great detective's reveal") is far too pat for my tastes, but that doesn't besmirch the fact that so much of what came before hit all the right notes. Overall, while not all that profound, Baumbach proves to be an excellent story-teller and fascinating artist.