As a twenty-something Brooklyn-dwelling writer it has long been a dream of mine to teach a Gen X couple to be cool again. My creative job, socially-conscious purchasing decisions, and bargain-bin collection of VHS Paul Verhoeven films isn’t just for me: They’re reminders to those that have lost their way of what being young, carefree, and fashionable are all about. I'd take them by the hand to artisanal food consumption destinations like Smorgasburg, go to relevant pottery-making classes, and expand their minds with designer drugs. They'd learn about what's important in life, and I'd learn how children and careers don't have to mean losing your cool. Young is a state of mind, I'd tell them.
Or so Noah Baumbach would have you believe.
You see, Baumbach’s new comedy film, While We’re Young, is about an aging couple (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) that has drifted into adulthood—and parenthood—while tragically forgetting that life is all about jaunty hats and carefree bike riding. Existence! So much more authentic with hats and hallucinogens. Luckily, in swoop Amanda Seyfried and Adam Driver to rescue Stiller from his ennui—more likely to smoke a lightsaber-shaped bong than wield one. Bushwick! Graffiti! Lofts! Mushrooms! It's all here.
Don’t get me wrong—I love me some Baumbach, but the well-tilled soil of the Morgan L Train stop is a little too faux-zeitgeisty, even for me. That said, because this is Baumbach we’re taking about, it’s likely he’ll upend the hipster clichés even as he revels in them. I'm happy to suspend my disbelief and hope Baumbach isn’t losing his edge. But just a word to you old people out there: Nobody wears fedoras anymore. Not even Adam Driver.
Watch the trailer above.
Nathan Reese is a News Editor at Complex. His meaningful social media presence can be found here.
