| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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see this one
by Daniel (movies profile)
Jun 3, 2008
2
of
2 people found this review helpful
I contemplated skipping this one. Old people trading dignity for a bit of attention did not seem like a promising basis for a documentary.
No worries. Yes, the incongruity of a group of old folks singing Talking Heads songs is part of the schtick both of the Chorus itself, and of this documentary, but Young@heart pulls the music off on their own terms.
The music won't work for everyone. Matt Pais in the Chicago Tribune says that Fred Knittle sings Coldplay's "Fix You" like a Johnny Cash song. Well, one could do worse than Johnny Cash, but I think Fred Knittle made this song his own. He delivered an elegy so tender, heartfelt, and mournful that I had tears streaming down my face by the end of the first verse. Looking around the small crowd at the Grandin here in Roanoke, most people seemed to be wiping their eyes.
Technical mastery isn't everything in music as John Prine, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young, among many others, have shown us. Heart goes a long way, and these old folks are bursting with it.
This is how a movie about aging and death can be uplifting. At 47, I understand what "loss you can't replace" means. Imagine the losses that accumulate by age 70...and then accelerate with each passing year. And yet these old men and women are not defeated. They come together to sing with energy, purpose, humor, and even joy at times. Wonderful. Recommended for everyone. |
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