Sunday, April 27, 2008

Young@Heart


Quote of the day:
“If we’ve learned any new rule in the 2008 campaign, it’s this: Once our news culture sets a story in stone, chances are it will crumble. But first it must be recycled louder and louder 24/7, as if sheer repetition will transmute conventional wisdom into reality.”
--Frank Rich, in today’s New York Times

When you’re done reading this, go to your Netflix queue and add “Young@Heart.” Even better, find a theatre showing it and plan to go today or tomorrow. Don’t put it off.

This is the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a long, long time. I was glad to see it in a theatre so I could enjoy others enjoying the film, too.

It’s a documentary about a group of seniors who perform rock music together. I know, it sounds corny with a high potential for condescension and sap.

But there is no condescension or sap, and what corn there is is deliberate and self-aware. This movie is a joy.

There is a variety of singing talent among the members. It is amazing and a hoot to watch a 92-year-old recite “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by the Clash with an authentic knowingness. At another moment in the film, as an 80-year-old began to sing the Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” for the first time, Merrie leaned over to me and said “he’s channeling David Byrne!” And he was!

I just used the word “authentic.” “Young@Heart” is so appealingly authentic--we meet these people as they are, and as they discover joy and creativity within themselves. Then they share it with an audience who goes wild and brings the house down.

There is also sadness in the film, and it is treated straightforwardly, without either playing it up or playing it down. It is real and poignant.

The word “poignant” is not in Hollywood dictionaries these days, and this film about defines it.

The other word that perfectly fits this film is “fun.” It was on the screen and in the theatre.

These are funny, real people who love to have fun, and it is the fulfilling purpose for their lives.

Mark your Oscar ballot now. Best Documentary. No one else need apply.

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