- Critic Score
- Most active
- Publication
- Most clicked
-
100If Young at Heart were merely a cheeky presentation of codgers belting out inappropriate tunes, it would be a curiosity and nothing more. But by getting inside the lives of a few of its members, the movie ultimately paints a moving portrait of senior citizens who believe it's better to burn out than fade away.
-
91They also make joyful music, communicated, both by the singers and their playful, sensitive documentarian, with an authority that quite knocks off socks.
-
An exuberant, affectionate documentary.
-
88Vibrant and vivacious documentary.
-
88A heartening and poignant affirmation of the transformative power of music.
-
88Sloppily made at times and it comes close to wearing out its welcome, but you can't blame Walker for not wanting to let his subjects go. And as the movie progresses, a viewer begins to understand why: These people are literally singing for their lives.
-
88British director Stephen Walker approached this project with wide-eyed good humor.
-
80The film’s appeal is at once sentimental and perverse: It’s not every day that you get to see a 92-year-old woman soloing on “Should I Stay Or Should I Go.” Not surprisingly, a feature remake is already in the works.
-
80The movie offers an encouraging vision of old age in which the depression commonly associated with decrepitude is held at bay by music making, camaraderie and a sense of humor.
-
80An irresistibly joyous, tearful and, most importantly, musical doc about a band of senior pop singers whose repertoire includes "Golden Years," "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Stayin' Alive."
-
78Young@Heart more than subtly suggests that the secret to growing old is to feel young, and – based on what you see in this film – there may be some truth to that platitude.
-
75What makes Young@Heart such an ingratiating experience goes far deeper than the novelty of seeing old people singing hard rock tunes.
-
75One of the most delightful movies to come along this year.
-
75It's truly inspiring to watch Fred Knittle, 81 and tethered to an oxygen tank, perform a riveting solo of Coldplay's "Fix You" after his singing partner dies shortly before the show.
-
75A liberating experience.
-
75Likely to bring a smile to your lips and a bounce to your step.
-
Ultimately, though, it's the life-affirming sentiments of the documentary and not its backstage drama that may turn it into a popular hit, especially among boomers who can now legitimately fantasize about their impending retirements as musical stars.
-
If the chorus was the sole focus of the documentary, it would have been brilliant. Unfortunately, director Stephen Walker makes the movie as much about himself as it is about the singers.
-
75A tribute to the therapeutic powers of musicmaking and choral camaraderie.
-
70This may sound like a suspect enterprise, a musical gimmick impossible to embrace, but the reality is otherwise. For what the members of this uncanny chorus lack in pure ability they make up for in irrepressible spirits and a desire to simply have fun.
-
70Here are old people in all the magnificence of their elderliness. The movie doesn't pretend like getting old is any fun. But it's about the transcendental power of -- well, yes, music; and each of these folks has a talent whose expression is a fuel to survive.
-
58There's a wealth of great material here, especially a shattering performance of Coldplay's "Fix You" by a soulful mountain of a man named Fred Knittle.
-
50The project reeks of commercial calculation, which is just tolerable until Walker, in search of a story arc, follows two chorus members with serious illnesses into the hospital.
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 6 out of 7
-
Mixed: 1 out of 7
-
Negative: 0 out of 7
-
8
-
MelindaS.8
-
ChadS.6