This movie was rather confounding to me.  I liked the first preview I saw, mainly because of the music (Wings’ “1985,” an all-time favorite of mine).  Then the second preview I saw revealed an important plot point I would rather have discovered from watching the film itself.  Then I saw the film, which pretends to be about the process of aging and maturing, but is really a very fuzzy diatribe about integrity.  The film has merits, and an excellent soundtrack (including, finally, “1985”), but I didn’t care for its characters, its inflated self-importance or its final stance on authenticity.

Noah Baumbach’s movie is urban to the core; its view of New York City is vibrant and enticing (and I find NYC a very intimidating place).  That being said, its characters are stereotypical, self-involved hipsters.  The protagonist, Josh (Ben Stiller), has been working on a boring documentary for eight years.  His wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts) is unable to have children and does everything possible to fill her time and the void in her life.  They meet a younger couple, Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried), who seem to be in much better control of their lives.  But all is not what it seems.

Ostensibly the comedy-drama is about the generational difference between these two couples: how the older pair is struggling to come to terms with marriage, stagnancy, childlessness and regret, while the younger tandem is full of idealism, energy and the wherewithal to turn dreams into reality.  That lasts about twenty minutes.  Then the film becomes very specific about Josh’s documentary and Jamie’s own filmmaking desire.  They become intertwined to the point of tying ethical knots that cannot easily be untangled.  The inevitable confrontation between Josh and Jamie seems to be a straightforward conflict of proper professional conduct vs. hypocritical maneuvering, yet the film ultimately tries to find an acceptable medium between the two positions. This not only surprised me but disappointed me greatly.

I should have known I wouldn’t like this movie because I have never cared for Ben Stiller as a performer.  I don’t think he is particularly funny, especially since his one comic talent is to be the put-upon fool.  He’s always the nice, ordinary guy that stuff happens to, who tries hard but just can’t catch a break.  Not my ideal of a lead actor. Naomi Watts nicely captures the nuances of her always-busy-lest-she-lose-her-mind character.  Amanda Seyfried seems seriously miscast; Adam Driver is solid as Jamie, the guy who always has an angle.  I did like Charles Grodin in his gruff supporting role as Cornelia’s father.

While We’re Young does have some serious things to say, and it is somewhat amusing now and then.  But some of the things it eventually says are seriously mistaken, and much of its comedy is vapid.  If you live in a big city you may find this movie more worthwhile than I did.  ☆ ☆.  18 April 2015.