Young@Heart

Young@Heart starts with a shot of a standing ovation. Screenings of this poignant tribute to a senior-citizens chorus whose singing gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “oldies but goodies” may end with ovation, as well. By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, doc chronicles the efforts of the seventy-, eighty- and ninetysomething members of the Young@Heart Chorus to learn seven new songs before a concert in their hometown of Northampton, Mass. Undermined only by director Stephen Walker’s overly simplistic—and self-centered—narration, pic will likely have audiences of all ages singing its praises.

Much as the weight of the elderly Johnny Cash’s life experiences allowed the late music icon to deepen Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” into a mediation on mortality, the Young@Heart Chorus’ takes on rock classics such as The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” are imbued with remarkable resonance. But the showstopper here is an inspiring interpretation of Coldplay’s “Fix You” by Fred Knittle, a former member of the chorus sidelined by congestive heart failure who is nonetheless lured out of retirement by Young@Heart Musical Director Bob Cilman to perform the ballad at a concert titled “Alive & Well.”

But by the time the curtain rises, however, not all of the singers are either of those things. The filmmakers bear witness to the deaths of not one, but two, members of the Young@Heart Chorus, and Walker would have done better by his subjects if he had gotten out of the way of the wonderful, life-affirming footage that follows those losses. His insistence on inserting himself into the narrative of Young@Heart is tiresome—and utterly unnecessary. The Young@Heart Chorus has all the characters—and character—that any documentarian could ask for.

Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Cast: Bob Cilman and The Young@Heart Chorus
Director: Stephen Walker
Producer: Sally George
Genre: Documentary
Rating: PG for some mild language and thematic elements
Running Time: 108 min.
Release Date: April 9 ltd.