Young at Heart 2008

Nell Minow, Chicago Sun-Times: It shows that no one has more reason to stick it to The Man with rock music than people who are most defiantly not going gently into that good night. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: To observe a fluctuating group of about two dozen singers whose average age is 80 perform in the documentary Young@Heart is to be uplifted, if slightly unsettled. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The 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. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's an emotional tapestry, sure to both delight audiences and move them to tears. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: The 'Aren't these geezers adorable?' approach ends up diminishing his subjects rather than honoring them. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: In Young@Heart, the prison is old age, and every song's a jailbreak. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: You won't believe the world of Young@Heart, but you'll have a hard time resisting it. Read more

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune: A chorus (average age 80) prepares for a springtime tour, putting their signature spin on classics--classics like The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go." Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Makes you want to go out and join a chorus -- whatever your age may be. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: An undeniably sweet mix of disarming honesty, inspired gumption and brutal reality, Young@Heart somehow manages to avoid the maudlin while enhancing the obvious with its portrait of a chorus of senior citizens who sing contemporary rock songs. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: [Director] Walker has found a delicate, thoughtful, respectful, witty way to convey both the dignity of the individual men and women singing, as well as the ineffable power of determining to live fully until there's no breath left. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: A more genuinely sweet and uplifting documentary I have not seen in quite a while. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: The 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.' Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: What makes Young@Heart such an ingratiating experience goes far deeper than the novelty of seeing old people singing hard rock tunes. Read more

Glenn Gamboa, Newsday: What makes Young@ Heart work well is the way director-narrator Stephen Walker focuses on how great music transcends age and generational shifts. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Young @ Heart would have been a wonderful newspaper feature. Unfortunately, it's a nonfiction film -- and merely a middling one. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: One of the most delightful movies to come along this year. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Anybody who thinks the Rolling Stones are old should check out the charming documentary Young@Heart, which features a group of rock performers whose average age is around 80. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Young@Heart is nothing less than an ode to joy. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: The film's emotional peak comes at the end when the chorus performs for prison inmates who must be, on average, well under half the age of the singers. It's a liberating experience, for both sides. Read more

Tom Horgen, Minneapolis Star Tribune: In many ways, this serious side of Young@Heart is what ultimately makes the film memorable. Read more

Kamal Al-Solaylee, Globe and Mail: The doc may indeed be too cute for some, but Walker knows when to step back and let life, with all its harshness and disappointments, into the picture. Read more

Philip Marchand, Toronto Star: One of the most remarkable scenes you will ever see in a documentary is the chorus of elderly men and women -- average age of 80 -- singing Bob Dylan's 'Forever Young' before convicts in a Massachusetts penitentiary. Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: Sure, these 'zesty', 'lively' old folks are enjoying themselves. The question is why on earth we should be expected to watch. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Not only is it enjoyable, Young@Heart is a heartening and poignant affirmation of the transformative power of music. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: An irresistibly joyous, tearful and, most importantly, musical doc about a band of senior pop singers. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: Documentarian Stephen Walker's brisk, ironic style of narration and frank inclusion of himself in the observations contribute mightily to the enterprise, which is also aided by his honesty. Read more