Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Get ready to rock out with the most entertaining golden oldies you will ever meet a fun-loving seniors choir called young @ heart. This feisty troupe performs songs from james brown to coldplay - & proves that hard rock can be hard when you are hard of hearing! Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/16/2008 Run time: 108 minutes Rating: Pg

Amazon.com:
The questions start as soon as you know that Young@Heart is about a group of singing senior citizens as they prepare for and then perform a concert with a repertoire consisting of songs by the likes of Coldplay, Sonic Youth, and James Brown. Can this premise, basically a novelty, sustain itself for nearly two hours? Will the director give in to the temptation to make it schmaltzy and sentimental? Will we be laughing at these oldsters, or with them? The answers: yes, no, and a little of both. Directed by British filmmaker Stephen Walker, the 2007 film takes place primarily in Northampton, MA, home to the Young@Heart chorus, whose average age is 80. Most readily admit to preferring classical and musicals to the pop and rock given to them by music director Bob Cilman, and some of the tunes--Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia," Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" (once a hit for the Pointer Sisters), and Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)"--prove especially vexing. But the singers' good natures and determination to master the material over some six weeks of rehearsals carry the day. Most of all, while they thoroughly enjoy themselves, it's no joke to them, and thus not to us, either. Of course, folks this age are bound to have health issues; indeed, the specter of death hangs over the scene like a banshee, occasionally making itself right at home. But the chorus members' insistence on carrying on in the wake of tragedy makes for a climactic concert that's moving and powerful--Fred Knittle, who had withdrawn from the group due to heart issues but whose beautiful bass voice remains intact, returns for this one show to deliver a version of Coldplay's "Fix You" that will bring a tear to the eye of the most flint-hearted cynic. Mixed in along the way are the group's "videos" of songs like the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" and David Bowie's "Golden Years"; bonus features include deleted scenes and a brief featurette about Young@Heart's gig in Los Angeles. --Sam Graham




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Stills from Young @ Heart (Click for larger image)

A really beautiful film, which was trully funny in places and trully sad in others. Well worth watching.

Average Rating:

Rating: - beautiful documentary
A really beautiful film, which was trully funny in places and trully sad in others. Well worth watching.

Rating: - We all should be "Young@Heart"!
Young@Heart

This documentary was such a surprise as music,
inspiration, humor, drama, and joy. It connects
us with our oldest generation, showing their lives,
struggles, triumphs, and tragedies, but mostly their
determined spirits.

I bought it to take to the nursing home where my Mother is. We will be serving Christmas cookies and sharing
the laughs and tears!

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Rating: - Rock on
This is a little gem of a movie. Not smarmy and sentimental but feel-good with plenty of depth. The oldsters in the movie certainly give ME a model for growing older: open minded and enjoying every bit of life.

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Rating: - Inspiring !
I loved this video. First saw it in the theater . Shows people living life to the fullest. It has it all . Laughter!tears! The joy of living!

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Rating: - It's True: You Will Laugh & Cry
It may sound like it, but this is no cliché: this movie will make you laugh and cry. It's true.

In a day with so much garbage being put out, this was a refreshing film to view - something true, too. It's a documentary about a group of old-timers (senior citizens, if you will) from Northampton, Mass., who tour and sing rock 'n roll. There is something absurd, outrageous, comical and entertaining about seeing an 89-year-old imitating James Brown and screaming, "I Feel Good!" What we witness in this two-hour documentary is both funny at times, but also sad. Hey, it's reality; life is hard, especially as you get older and older. Some of the members of this group die during the filming of it. The other men and women have to deal with these losses. "The show must on," as the old saying goes, but it's not easy.

The group sings rock standards and stuff that is pretty recent. It's hardly just Brown, the Ramones, Beatles, Bee Gees or Stones songs. It's also these old folks performing Sonic Youth, Coldplay, The Clash and the like.

Of all the members, one can't but be most impressed with the voice of Fred Knittle, who has to sit and sing while having an oxygen tank next to him. His voice is really, really good. Then there is 92-year-old and spunky Eileen Hall and then there six-time cancer patient Joe Benoit, probably the nicest man you'd ever meet. All the people here are interesting.

The more I watched this, the more respect I had for Bob Cilman, who directs this group. That man must have tremendous patience and a big, big heart for older people. It's frustrating when members keep forgetting their lines time and time again, but Bob presses on. He's called a "taskmaster" a few times but the group has great respect for him.

Director Steven Walker does a super job putting this film together, holding some shots and cutting others off just at the right spots so we get the full effect of the humor or drama of a particular situation. Your emotions will run the gamut watching this. The more sentimental you are, the more it will affect you.

If you have a sense of humor and compassion for people, this is one of the few movies I guarantee you will like.


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