Friday
Dec042015
Relax with "Youth" This Weekend
Friday, December 4, 2015 at 3:33PM Chris here. I don't about you, but I could use some rest and relaxation after a long week. How about some zen inspiration from Paolo Sorrentino's Youth, opening today in limited release.
Take some time this weekend to pamper yourself. Spa-in-the-Alps style.
Get in touch with your imagination. Cinema always helps.
Brave the winter chill with a friend! Explore new experiences!
Be a sexy, sweaty Paul Dano. You've earned it.
And Above All Else: Stay fabulous, dammit!
Youth opens today in select cities. Have a splendid weekend!
Reader Comments (23)
I cannot wait to see this movie!
I wonder if Michael Caine and Jane Fonda traded sweet memories over playing husband and wife while making the wretched Hurry Sundown nearly 50 years ago.
I'm shocked that the critics are not loving it! I found it exhilarating! It'll easily age better than at least half of the eventual Best Picture nominees.
I thought this was very uneven. At once, beautiful and moving and at the same time, very pretentious.
This is on my worst of the year list. Completely atrocious. Stilted, pretentious garbage.
Sure, I get why some might call "Youth" pretentious but I loved it. Especially for that brief, explosive apppearence by Jane Fonda who serves that hard-boiled Hollywood dame like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.
I also couldn't get on this movie's wavelength. I had a similar "dog whistle" reaction to "The Great Beauty," which I really enjoyed about 50-60 percent of and was baffled/bored by the rest of it. So much of "Youth" was pitched high and shrill that it strangled a lot of the better aspects for me. Fonda is great in a too-short cameo, Keitel does his best with most of the script's worst dialogue and plotting, and Caine gives good Caine. But I kept wanting to see more of Paul Dano and what his understated character was up to - and that's not something I would have said before 2015.
Paul Dano sexy? Uh...
As for the film, I wasn't that taken by it. I much prefered The Great Beauty.
I saw this trailer last night for the first time, and it looks absolutely beautiful! I can't wait to see this one. Great post!
Not a very good pic... Fonda is being way overrated for this role *( cameo )
People think Paul Dano is sexy? *shudders*
I saw this last week. Had mixed feelings but valued it overall. Really beautiful to look at, that's for sure. And great acting all around. Fonda's good in her scene but, to be honest, I don't think it's all that. Much preferred Weisz as a supporting player. Her monologue giving Caine a piece of her mind about a third into the film is fantastic.
Philip H & Glenn - as shocking as it is to report, Paul Dano is actually much sexier in real life than on camera as i discovered at that Youth party i was talking about. This doesn't usually happen. Most actors are extremely photogenic (obviously) but there are weird cases where you're like "why doesn't the camera capture this?"... another example is Edward Norton -- good looking on screen ...kind of. quite handsome in real life.
Carlos -- loved Weisz monologue too. I also had mixed feelings but "pretentious" is one of my least favorite criticisms of a movie because I like when filmmakers are ambitious and have something on their mind. even if they don't quite pull it off or don't pull it off at all ;)
Phillip H - I mean... we all have our own tastes lol
Bummer to see so many voices down on the film here. I'm looking forward to it!
MVP: Keitel
Nathaniel - I wasn't me that called it pretentious! ;) But I mostly agree with your comment. I do appreciate it when a filmmaker is ambitious and tries to do something interesting. It only irks me a bit more when it's not just failing to pull off a message, but rather trying to get away with selling a really trite and overdone concept as something higher (cough... Birdman... cough).
The only time this movie came alive was in Jane Fonda's scene. Caine bored me to tears and Rachel Weisz was bland, eliciting nothing despite a long monologue. And it felt 300 hours long.
It was no Great Beauty, which I loved, but I still enjoyed it. Cal is 100% right: Keitel is the MVP. He elevated the dialogue. He got the character. He never seemed bothered by some of the clunky story bits (like his random team of writers ... what was that?). Fonda knocked it out of the park in her glorified cameo. And the movie is just gorgeous. So beautiful to just watch. I love the little beautiful moments in all of Sorrentino's films. Like when he focused in on the masseuse. Just beautiful.
Sadly, for me, Caine didn't quite nail a difficult role. How many times did they use the word "apathy" to describe his character? It takes a special actor to make "apathy" work. And he didn't quite hit the mark. And I thought Rachel Weisz gave a really uneven performance. She seems to have gotten worse since winning the Oscar. And that's sad because she really deserved that Oscar. Oh well.
In the end, this one is really about the beauty for me. It just has some real beautiful shots in it.
I liked this a lot more than I expected to. Beautiful compositions and colours and thrilling performances. Love that everyone got a monologue or a 'moment'. Pretentious is the word that struck me at the time too; I think the dialogue tries for profundity at times, without rising above platitudes. But Caine, Weisz, Keitel and Fonda were all terrific. And I need to seek out THE GREAT BEAUTY now.
CharlieG - She's gotten worse?! Do yourself a favor and go watch The Deep Blue Sea ;)
Yeah, Wiesz in The Deep Blue Sea or The Brothers Bloom is light years beyond her work before her oscar.
i still think her CONSTANT GARDENER work is her best but she's excellent in THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
there's nothing relaxing about tedium. 'youth' is overly precious and affected. it' a series of contrivances that exist solely to create images that the director seems to think will resonate. they do not. they are simplistic and ultimately hollow. there is no 'there' there.
@Carlos & Arkaan & Nathaniel R: I respectfully disagree with you about Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea. But I'm glad that she still has fans.