Young @ Heart

Well, as the first actual application of my rubric - and the doc rubric at that - I think we have a success! If I were to just guess on my netflix rating, I might have jumped to a 5 for this movie. But really, when I think about it, there are a few things I would have liked to see differently in this film.

Young @ Heart is a feel good documentary about a group of elderly retired people in New England that make up the Young at Heart Chorus. The film focuses on a couple of the "characters" who are long-standing members -- one woman, Eileen, is 92 years old, and has been singing with the group since she was 70. Over the course of the film, you get acquainted with some other zany misfits who also help give the chorus its charm. The charm, of course, is that the Young at Heart Chorus does not sing hymnals or standards, oh no -- they sing the Rolling Stones, Sonic Youth, and Coldplay. Hilarity ensues, with plenty of tenderness and life-lesson-learning to go around.

I scored a 3/5 for direction, which required a lot of consideration. I'm probably really warped from my own experience directing a documentary, but Stephen Walker kind of let me down here. Should we blame the old people, or the guy who's supposed to get the juice out of 'em? I imagine they might have been difficult to interview, at times, but there are some touching sad moments in this movie that could have been taken SO much further. Did he worry about exploiting them? I'm not sure. But though there were moments that left me completely speechless and teary-eyed (which is a HUGE rarity for me), I wanted them to last just a moment longer, or push a little harder.

Ok, I'm focusing on the negative, which is pretty tough to do with this movie. As you can see, outstanding score considering all the crap out there. For my first review, not a bad way to start. If nothing else, this movie will make you want to call your grandparents. Also, best version of Fix You ever. That's good enough for me.