WHILE WE’RE YOUNG

WHILE WE’RE YOUNG is a captivating comedy with a stellar cast and interesting characters. Ben Stiller brings humor to Josh, a documentary filmmaker who has spent a decade struggling to finish a project. His friendship with a younger filmmaker, Jamie, becomes a sharp examination of jealousy, ambition, success, and ethical compromise.

The film’s humor and performances keep it engaging. But the story also includes Shamanism, drugging, hallucination, vomiting, strong language, and marriages that begin to fall apart when spouses kiss other people and mistreat each other. Its final act becomes preachy and pushes several agendas without giving the story much closure.

Adults may find worthwhile questions about truth, success, family, and ethics. Children and young teens should stay away. WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY is the practical answer.

Josh is a documentary filmmaker whose decade-long project has left him creatively stalled and unable to find funding. While teaching a filmmaking class, he meets Jamie and Darby, a young married couple who admire his work and invite him and his wife, Cornelia, into their hipster lifestyle.

Jamie asks Josh to help create a documentary about meeting his first Facebook friend in person. When Jamie’s film becomes more creative and popular than Josh’s, professional friendship gives way to jealousy. Then Josh begins to suspect that Jamie’s storytelling methods are less than ethical.

Four stars means this is a highly entertaining film despite its serious flaws. The stellar cast and interesting characters keep it captivating throughout, and the comedy is often excellent. Jamie is especially engaging: lovable and confident, yet ultimately conniving in pursuit of what he wants.

The weakness comes in the last act. The film becomes preachy as it pushes several agendas, primarily involving ethical issues. The ending does not inspire much closure, leaving it difficult to know exactly what the film was ultimately about.

WHILE WE’RE YOUNG presents a mentality of following your dreams, whatever you have to do, while placing success above family and ethics. The film does examine and sometimes check unethical behavior through moral and ethical concerns, but it does not offer clear closure about those competing ideas.

Its religious elements are strongly false from a biblical perspective. Shamanism is practiced through drugging, hallucination, confession, and vomiting as a way of purging evil from within. The documentaries also discuss leftist political subjects, including communism and socialism.

The film’s central conflict concerns the cost of ambition. Josh’s jealousy grows as Jamie’s documentary surpasses his in creativity and popularity, while the married couples’ relationships deteriorate through infidelity and mistreatment. The story raises real questions about whether professional success is worth sacrificing family and integrity.

Scripture connects success with truth rather than deception: “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out” (Proverbs 10:9).

WHILE WE’RE YOUNG offers adults a funny, compelling look at ambition, jealousy, family, and ethics. Its strong false religious elements, language, sexual content, and troubled marriages make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For family viewing, choose another film.