Ben Stiller finds old form probing the generation gap in While We’re Young

REVIEW: Ben Stiller is in fine form in the clever and observant While We’re Young, where a generation gap keeps opening and closing like a broken elevator door.

While We’re Young (M)

Director: Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha)

Starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver, Charles Grodin.

Rating: ***1/2

An old dog falls for a pup’s new tricks

THE moral of the story when it comes to While We’re Young?

Don’t ever befriend someone who reminds you of someone you used to be. They could turn out to be more of a somebody than you will ever be.

In this clever, observant and biting social satire from American writer-director Noah Baumbach, a generation gap is opening and closing without notice, like a broken elevator door.

Going nowhere ... Ben Stiller’s character is stuck in a rut in While We’re Young.

Ben Stiller stars as Josh, a documentary filmmaker whose life is stalled at a crossroads.

He and wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are the last couple left in their social circle who are yet to have a baby. Which means everyone in their social circle is telling them they should have a baby.

There is no refuge for Josh in his work. His latest project has chewed up almost ten years, and he still can’t get the running time underneath six hours.

Cutting footloose ... Adam Driver as Jamie and Ben Stiller as Josh.

Josh’s reluctance to commit to a final cut has a lot to do with Cornelia’s father Leslie (Charles Grodin), who just happens to be one of the most famous documentary directors of all time.

Josh needs to be snapped out of his rut, and a blossoming friendship with a younger fan of his work could be the answer.

Jamie (Adam Driver) is a New York hipster in his mid-twenties who is hoping to one day follow Josh down the doco-making path.

For now, however, Jamie and his wife Darby (Amanda Seyfried) are living footloose and fancy free. Their untiring thirst for doing what they want, when they want, exerts a gravitational pull upon Josh and Cornelia.

Gathering darkness ... Naomi Watts as Cornelia and Adam Driver as Jamie.

All of a sudden, the older couple are no longer acting their age. Josh and Cornelia ditch their longtime friends, and begin to get down with Jamie and Darby’s up-for-anything crowd.

Everything is going so beautifully, you just know it can only end ugly. As predictable as this story arc is, it is the getting there that really counts in the case of While We’re Young.

Stiller is in the best form he has shown for years, and he really comes into his own once the tone of the movie gradually begins to darken, and Josh realises Jamie has achieved more in a month than he has in a decade.

The world as Josh thought he knew it has picked up speed, and he may never catch up again. To make matters worse, Jamie looks as if he isn’t even trying, but he is always right on the pace.

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Originally published as Ben Stiller finds old form probing the generation gap in While We’re Young