
While We're Young
2014, Drama/Comedy, 1h 34m
205 Reviews 10,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Poignant and piercingly honest, While We're Young finds writer-director Noah Baumbach delivering some of his funniest lines through some of his most relatable characters. Read critic reviews
You might also like
Where to watch
Show all servicesWhile We're Young Videos
While We're Young Photos
Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Josh Srebnick
Cornelia Srebnick
Jamie
Darby
Lesley Breitbart
News & Interviews for While We're Young
Critic Reviews for While We're Young
All Critics (205) | Top Critics (67) | Fresh (172) | Rotten (33)
-
Ultimately, this film is about two well-meaning people coming to grips with who they actually are versus who they've always thought they were supposed to be. And when it's on a roll, While We're Young is hilarious.
August 4, 2016 | Full Review… -
It's a very funny movie, and a beautifully cast one
May 28, 2016 | Full Review… -
The film asks thought-provoking questions about modern technology, friendship and even documentaries that will likely cause deep discussions afterward.
April 17, 2015 | Rating: A- | Full Review… -
Baumbach has a great sense of the ridiculous, and a sensitive instinct for keeping the attack under control.
April 16, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review… -
The wonderful thing about While We're Young and the relationship that develops between Josh and Cornelia and Jamie and Darby is that it's less about resentment than it is a celebration of romantic love. At least initially.
April 10, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review… -
While We're Young may provide the fusion of two disparate narrative packages but the glass is only half-full.
April 10, 2015 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for While We're Young
-
Oct 08, 2015A 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.Jim H Super Reviewer
-
Sep 15, 2015Hitting Generation X right in their Millennials, Noah Baumbach's latest comedy hilariously asks Y of Middle Age as it winningly straddles the generational divide. Peter Pan never grew up, but - if he did - he hopefully wouldn't emulate Brooklyn hipsters. Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, however, hilariously fall into this trap in an on-the-nose film that's deeper and more convoluted than at first glance. In fact, the film hands out some winning Reality Bytes to this twosome and anyone who pines for their younger days. One 40-something character - so genuinely tough on Stiller's new choice of friends at the outset - confesses that, despite admitting that having a baby imbues you with a deep-seeded love, the most important person in his life remains himself. It's a startling revelation that's not a revelation. In fact, it's honest and very human-one of the many truisms emerging here we hate to admit. In this R-rated comedy from Noah Baumbach (Margot at the Wedding, Greenberg), a middle-aged couple's (Stiller, Watts) career and marriage get overturned when a disarming young couple (Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried) enters their lives. It's smart if you fall outside of the age pools depicted here and it smarts if you fall within, especially if you're approaching the big Four Oh from either direction. Astute and unsettlingly honest observations get leveled by peers their own age as Stiller and Watts envy the perpetual motion and spontaneity of modern 20-somethings as well as their unbridled passion for vintage items (i.e., "everything that we threw away"). Both of them - young and young at heart - want what the other has, however, and each for selfish and ulterior motives. Baumbach drives this home with his usual insightful wit and in-the-moment camerawork. It's not his best, but doesn't fall far from his gold standard (The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha). Bottom line: Over the Hill of BeansJeff B Super Reviewer
-
Aug 04, 2015Noah 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.Carlos M Super Reviewer
-
Aug 02, 2015Muddled and pretentious. An uneven delivery that meanders and stalls.Chrisanne C Super Reviewer
While We're Young Quotes
Josh: | What is the opposite of the world is your oyster? |
Movie & TV guides
About Tomatometer
The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review
About Audience Score
The percentage of users who rated this 3.5 stars or higher.
Verified