Ben Stiller - Josh
Naomi Watts - Cornelia
Adam Driver - Jamie
Amanda Seyfried - Darby
This movie was so unexpected the entire way through. The premise is odd, to start with. It doesn't fit neatly in any genre. It's not a love story, a hero quest, or a coming of age story. It was about one man learning a lesson through his own mistake in judgement, and it was a surprisingly and subtly affirming lesson.
As the title implies, the movie centers around age. It's a middle-aged couple (Josh and Cornelia) that meets a young couple (Jamie and Darby) and becomes swept away with the energy and spontaneity of their lifestyle. The people around them are having babies, settling down, and going to "baby music classes." Josh and Corneila can't have children, and they're feeling more and more disconnected with their own generation.
As I already mentioned, I had no idea where this movie was going all the way through, but I did pick up on one thing. Josh kept saying "I got this" about the bill when Jamie and him would eat out and Jamie seemed less thankful of that than seemed appropriate. That alone is nothing, but Josh kept saying how generous Jamie and Darby were, how they didn't try to claim all the credit for everything they were doing. Josh compared them with himself, a documentary maker who (he said) was reluctant to invite others into the adventure with him for fear of not getting all the credit. This turned out to be foreshadowing of their relationship's destination.
Tons of spoilers now: Jamie turns out to be ambitious to the extreme. Josh eventually becomes disillusioned toward him and then finds out that he faked spontaneity for the sake of his documentary, which Jamie invited Josh to shoot with him. He'd set up meetings ahead of time, planted things for Josh to find to make it a better drama. The details surrounding the central story are not the central story, but Josh feels pretending they are true is dishonest. He talks to Darby alone and gets the inside story of their "perfect" marriage and life. He confronts Jamie very publicly - and quickly looks like a dork. He tells the investors in Jamie's project that his details were fudged, but to his surprise the investors do not care as long as there is a good story. Josh plays his last card. "But what about me?" he says touchingly to Jamie, who, in an amazing bit of acting by Adam Driver, looks guilty and about to cry as well as defiant and at a loss. Josh finally has to walk away - from the table, from trying to win the arguement, from Jamie.
The cincher on this as an important movie, to me, is the final scene. Josh and Cornelia are in the airport waiting for their plane to Haiti where they will adopt a child. Cornelia opens one of her magazines for the flight and finds an article on Jamie. "Are you a hipster?" the article asks. "Well, I'm of a certain age and I wear tight jeans...." Josh laughs and shakes his head. Cornelia asks if it bothers him, that Jamie is receiving such praise for a documentary he lied in, and he says, "He's not evil, he's just... young."
There is such a subtly powerful affirmation of the value of the years under your belt. And yet it doesn't shame being young either. It was very impactful for me to see someone middle-aged both at peace with his age and also ready to give grace to the younger generation. They are happy to be old and wise enough to avoid certain pitfalls and forgiving of those who are cool and trendy and getting more attention than them (even when they're dishonest people). This is one of the most moving portraits of maturity I have ever seen.
Naomi Watts - Cornelia
Adam Driver - Jamie
Amanda Seyfried - Darby
This movie was so unexpected the entire way through. The premise is odd, to start with. It doesn't fit neatly in any genre. It's not a love story, a hero quest, or a coming of age story. It was about one man learning a lesson through his own mistake in judgement, and it was a surprisingly and subtly affirming lesson.
As the title implies, the movie centers around age. It's a middle-aged couple (Josh and Cornelia) that meets a young couple (Jamie and Darby) and becomes swept away with the energy and spontaneity of their lifestyle. The people around them are having babies, settling down, and going to "baby music classes." Josh and Corneila can't have children, and they're feeling more and more disconnected with their own generation.
As I already mentioned, I had no idea where this movie was going all the way through, but I did pick up on one thing. Josh kept saying "I got this" about the bill when Jamie and him would eat out and Jamie seemed less thankful of that than seemed appropriate. That alone is nothing, but Josh kept saying how generous Jamie and Darby were, how they didn't try to claim all the credit for everything they were doing. Josh compared them with himself, a documentary maker who (he said) was reluctant to invite others into the adventure with him for fear of not getting all the credit. This turned out to be foreshadowing of their relationship's destination.
Tons of spoilers now: Jamie turns out to be ambitious to the extreme. Josh eventually becomes disillusioned toward him and then finds out that he faked spontaneity for the sake of his documentary, which Jamie invited Josh to shoot with him. He'd set up meetings ahead of time, planted things for Josh to find to make it a better drama. The details surrounding the central story are not the central story, but Josh feels pretending they are true is dishonest. He talks to Darby alone and gets the inside story of their "perfect" marriage and life. He confronts Jamie very publicly - and quickly looks like a dork. He tells the investors in Jamie's project that his details were fudged, but to his surprise the investors do not care as long as there is a good story. Josh plays his last card. "But what about me?" he says touchingly to Jamie, who, in an amazing bit of acting by Adam Driver, looks guilty and about to cry as well as defiant and at a loss. Josh finally has to walk away - from the table, from trying to win the arguement, from Jamie.
The cincher on this as an important movie, to me, is the final scene. Josh and Cornelia are in the airport waiting for their plane to Haiti where they will adopt a child. Cornelia opens one of her magazines for the flight and finds an article on Jamie. "Are you a hipster?" the article asks. "Well, I'm of a certain age and I wear tight jeans...." Josh laughs and shakes his head. Cornelia asks if it bothers him, that Jamie is receiving such praise for a documentary he lied in, and he says, "He's not evil, he's just... young."
There is such a subtly powerful affirmation of the value of the years under your belt. And yet it doesn't shame being young either. It was very impactful for me to see someone middle-aged both at peace with his age and also ready to give grace to the younger generation. They are happy to be old and wise enough to avoid certain pitfalls and forgiving of those who are cool and trendy and getting more attention than them (even when they're dishonest people). This is one of the most moving portraits of maturity I have ever seen.