There’s an interesting element
of self-effacement from Baumbach, Stiller, and Watts here. Acknowledging the central flaw of
Frances Ha, Josh and Cornelia
discuss their ability to jet off to
Paris on a whim. “We may not
get an affordable flight at such
short notice though,” ruminates
Josh. A late contrivance sees
Stiller forced to don rollerblades,
but unlike a similar sequence in
Walter Mitty, in which he bladed
like a pro, he’s distinctly uncomfortable with this form of hipster
transport. Nodding to her heavily criticised role in last year’s St.
Vincent, Watts jokes around in a
bad Russian accent at one point.
Many approach comedy films
with the attitude of ‘If it makes
me laugh, it’s done its job,’ but I
never quite bought into that. If
Starring:
7/10
Directed by: Noah Baumbach
we don’t get some dramatic substance to accompany the gags, a
comedy becomes like an action
movie with great set-pieces but
terrible writing (think The Raid 2).
While Baumbach’s film generates
more laughs than the average 10
Hollywood comedies combined,
we never quite become invested
in its characters beyond their being vessels for witty dialogue.
The two central female characters played by Watts and Seyfried
are given particularly short shrift
in their storylines and essentially
exist to seduce the opposing
male members of this quartet.
With little to get your teeth into,
While We’re Young won’t linger
long in the memory, but if you
want some rib tickling fun it certainly delivers the laughs.
Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Ben Stiller,
Adam Driver, Charles Grodiner
New Jersey Stage
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