The Forty-Year-Old Version

Name: The Forty-Year-Old Version
Genre: Comedy
Released: October 2, 2020
Duration: 129 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Antonio Ortiz, Doris McCarthy, Haskiri Velazquez, Imani Lewis, Jacob Ming-Trent

2020

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Ratings

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The 40-Year-Old Version

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Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: October 2, 2020 | R

Starring: Antonio Ortiz, Doris McCarthy, Haskiri Velazquez, Imani Lewis, Jacob Ming-Trent, Michael Izquierdo, Mina Joo, Peggy Scott, Peter Y. Kim, Radha Blank, Reed Birney, T.J. Atoms, Welker White

Movie Facts:

Winner of the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at The 2020 Sundance Film Festival

Summary: Radha, a down-on-her-luck NY playwright, is desperate for a breakthrough before 40. But when she foils what seems like her last shot at success, she’s left with no choice but to reinvent herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime. The Forty-Year-Old Version follows Radha as she vacillates between the worlds of Hip Hop and theater on a quest to findRadha, a down-on-her-luck NY playwright, is desperate for a breakthrough before 40. But when she foils what seems like her last shot at success, she’s left with no choice but to reinvent herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime. The Forty-Year-Old Version follows Radha as she vacillates between the worlds of Hip Hop and theater on a quest to find her true voice.

… Expand

Director: Radha Blank

Genre(s): Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 129 min

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Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

100

A.O. Scott

Oct 8, 2020

It revels in the pleasure and struggle of creative work. This comes through in the rambunctiousness of Radha’s students, in her belated appreciation of her mother’s paintings, in shots of street murals and sonic scraps of freestyle rhyming — in pretty much every frame of a film that, like its heroine, is grumpy, tender, wistful, funny and combative. Also beautiful. Read full review

Richard Lawson

Oct 8, 2020

With weary humor, Blank details how hard it is to sustain an actual, decades-long career in the arts, when the twin forces of public appetite (and money) and personal obstacle conspire to derail or deaden what was once so exuberant, so teeming with possibility. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Nell Minow

Oct 9, 2020

The Forty-Year-Old Version is brimming with sharp but often understated humor and a deep experience of making art. Read full review

Alison Willmore

Oct 7, 2020

Shot in black-and-white with occasional accents of color, and given to camera-facing testimonials from characters around Radha’s neighborhood in a nod to Spike Lee, The 40-Year-Old Version feels like a ’90s indie throwback, loose and left raw at the edges, marked by an intimacy that can only come from drawing from the stuff of its multi-hyphenate creator’s life. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Oct 9, 2020

Blank uses humor to make her points and they are all-the-more memorable as a result. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

Oct 6, 2020

It's a foregone conclusion that The Forty-Year-Old Version will be compared with films by Woody Allen, Spike Lee and Judd Apatow, the latter of whom is referenced in the title and the steady stream of vulgar humor that courses through Blank’s dialogue. But even with those obvious references, she’s crafted something all her own. Read full review

Candice Frederick

Jan 26, 2020

It’s understandable that The 40-Year-Old Version is intentionally scattered, because it is about a woman grasping at straws in order to find her place in this very rigid space, both professionally and personally. But the film lacks the finesse to tell that story more cinematically, even running way longer than it should, as it roams towards a satisfying conclusion. Read full review

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User Reviews

RobertJames

Oct 10, 2020

Nothing but love for this. So truthful, so honest. Too honest for some obviously. Glad I found this. Everyone who got a heart and soul will find something here. This is poetry in motion. Hope there will be a sequel and we can see where the journey takes her! That would be great! Brilliant onNothing but love for this. So truthful, so honest. Too honest for some obviously. Glad I found this. Everyone who got a heart and soul will find something here. This is poetry in motion. Hope there will be a sequel and we can see where the journey takes her! That would be great! Brilliant on every level! Watch it!… Expand

3 of 8 users found this helpful35

Loocasonofre

Nov 7, 2020

Radha is absolutely fantastic! An exciting, inspiring, fun and necessary film.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ChanekeCholo

Dec 13, 2021

We need more movies like this with great true stories, to encourage with a great directing and acting.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

bertobellamy

Oct 11, 2020

The Forty-Year-Old Version is a loose autobiography that successfully avoids an egotistical exercise. By using hip hop as a rediscovery tool, Radha Blank conceives an honest and highly comical film that channels Woody Allen and Spike Lee. Blank emerges as a new narrative force to be reckoned with.

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

Lajaleaa

Apr 11, 2021

"Even my dreams need rewrites."
.
( 84/100 ) . Hay cierta emoción que los artistas tenemos cuando vemos este tipo de proyectos. El valor narrativo de esta obra logra superarse a si misma y revelar el potencial y valor real de la persona detrás de todo este proyecto. Escrito, dirigido,"Even my dreams need rewrites."
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( 84/100 )
.
Hay cierta emoción que los artistas tenemos cuando vemos este tipo de proyectos.
El valor narrativo de esta obra logra superarse a si misma y revelar el potencial y valor real de la persona detrás de todo este proyecto. Escrito, dirigido, protagonizado y co-producido por Radha Blank: una mujer que está saliendo de entre la multitud a su avanzada edad para declarar su propio brillo. Aún así, el mensaje de la película no es "las cosas se darán a su tiempo" sino que es una historia importante y realista que dice: "ahora o nunca".
Radha se demuestra ser una poeta versátil con su léxico y una importante escritora por la esencia, sensibilidad y emoción que logró con su narrativa en esta historia. Aparte de su perspicacia verbal, simplemente la energía que le da a sus versos y la sátira en sus conflictos verbales equilibran un viaje personal que no me cansaré de escuchar.
El blanco y negro en la cinematografía le da textura a la historia, y la transición final explica esta misma decisión fotográfica, que, aparte de ser muy sensible con la realidad y los detalles que escoge de la cotidianidad, también justifica y le da sentido a la etapa emocional por la cual está pasando la artista.
Y la música. Simplemente hay una selección musical genial. Los beat originales no son una maravilla, pero permiten la fuerza de la voz y letra de esta agobiada y cansada mujer.
Todo es sobre Radha y aún así la falta de egoísmo en la historia y su personaje es de admirar. La catarsis muestra a una persona acostumbrada y acomodada a ceder tanto que decide tomar las riendas de su propia voz y comienza a exigir su propio reconocimiento. El final es ese equilibrio de madurez y respeto que se admira al demostrar que no todo lo que no te gusta de ti está destinado a ser un fracaso, pero tú sí estás destinado a ser un fracaso si no eres parte de tus éxitos.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Brent_Marchant

Mar 1, 2021

When a 39-year-old playwright's career has woefully stalled for a decade, what does she do to get it back on track before turning 40? She decides to reinvent herself and become a rapper, one whose works reflect the views of a 40-year-old plus-size single Black woman struggling to get by --When a 39-year-old playwright's career has woefully stalled for a decade, what does she do to get it back on track before turning 40? She decides to reinvent herself and become a rapper, one whose works reflect the views of a 40-year-old plus-size single Black woman struggling to get by -- and with hilarious (and I do mean hilarious) results at that. The debut feature from writer-actor-director Radha Blank is one of the most refreshingly honest comedies to come along in quite some time, serving up big laughs throughout its two-hour runtime while simultaneously offering poignant insights about the New York arts community, society at large, being authentic and growing older. The narrative becomes admittedly a little stretched out in the second hour, but, with everything else it has to offer, who cares? Sensitive viewers are cautioned that the salty language in this one is enough to make a sailor blush, but it only serves to make the laughs even bigger throughout. Blank is off to a tremendous start with this project; let's hope she keeps it up in future releases.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Oct 31, 2020

It wasn't bad, but being the work of a newcomer, this serves as an example of when you try to cover more than you can handle and unfortunately for its director and protagonist, in her eagerness to explore too much, she overextended her reception and overextended the material.

It's worth it,It wasn't bad, but being the work of a newcomer, this serves as an example of when you try to cover more than you can handle and unfortunately for its director and protagonist, in her eagerness to explore too much, she overextended her reception and overextended the material.

It's worth it, but this could definitely have been more compact and concise.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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