Young@Heart (PG) *** | Forget the rocking chairs -- just rock
Posted on Fri, Apr. 25, 2008
BY RENE RODRIGUEZ
BRANDY EVE ALLEN / FOX SEARCHLIGHT
The octogenarians of Young@Heart have no intention of going anywhere quietly.
The sight of a chorus of octogenarians singing The Clash's Should I Stay Or Should I Go is odd and enchanting enough to grab anyone's attention (The Clash? Really?). But what makes Young@Heart such an ingratiating experience goes far deeper than the novelty of seeing old people singing hard rock tunes.
Made for British television, Young@Heart follows the titular chorus -- 24 amateur singers from Northampton, Mass., with an average age of 80 -- during the six weeks of preparation and rehearsal leading up to a 2006 recital. Overseen by chorus director Bob Cilman, who doesn't go easy on his musicians just because of their age, the group must learn to perform such songs as the Talking Heads' Road to Nowhere, Coldplay's Fix You and Sonic Youth's Schizophrenia -- not exactly the kinds of tunes you'd expect to hear piped through the intercom at your neighborhood retirement home.
Director Stephen Walker catches the chorus members' reactions from the first moment they hear the songs (scowls and fingers-in-ears greet Sonic Youth's wail of guitars), then gradually introduces us to the singers as they prepare for the show. Befitting their age, all suffer from some medical ailment or another, and not all of them are completely lucid (one chorus member is known for routinely blanking out in the middle of Purple Haze and forgetting the words).
What all the singers share, however, is an enthusiasm for life. The immediate humor in seeing elderly folk sing contemporary songs is that it is not supposed to happen: After a certain age, you're supposed to dodder off into the sunset, sit in your rocking chair and reminisce about the good old days. Or at least that's the image of senior citizens the movies have shown us the most.
Young@Heart reminds you of the sheer fun of singing, regardless of one's talents. The movie also proves that the strength of your legs -- or lack thereof -- has nothing to do with your creative spirit and spontaneity. Death is a character in Young@Heart, but it is overshadowed by life -- the joyous, carefree, irreverent life energy of people who, whether 75 or 85, aren't interested in sitting around ticking off what time they've got left. Just ask the Rolling Stones.
Director: Stephen Walker
Producer: Sally George
A Fox Searchlight release. Running time: 108 minutes. Mild vulgar language. In Miami-Dade: AMC Aventura, Sunset Place; in Broward: Sunrise.
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