‘Youth’ is same old, same old

What It’s About

A morose but beautiful movie, “Youth” focuses on two successful men looking back at their lives.

Fred (Michael Caine) and Mick (Harvey Keitel) are best friends vacationing in the Alps. They are surrounded by other well-off seniors and European beauties.

Fred is a retired conductor being lured back for a substantial gig — Prince Phillip’s birthday — while Mick, a film director, is busy with a young writing staff on his next picture.

Their well-lived lives are shaken up a bit by children who have disappointed them and other guests who have become friends over the years.

They are reminded of failures and have regrets. This is not an unchartered subject for movies. The fact that Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel play best friends is interesting, but that’s about it.

We slog through these people’s lives, and it’s not a fun journey, no matter how gorgeous the place is that they’re staying and filmmakers have made the movie look.

Director Paulo Sorrentino won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film for “The Great Beauty.” He has a magic touch for visual aesthetics, but his flights of fancy are too esoteric to care about any of these people.

Performances

Caine and Keitel are pros, and easily glide through their roles.

Rachel Weisz, Oscar winner for “The Constant Gardener,” plays Fred’s daughter, and their relationship has been rocky. She’s also dealing with a messy personal situation.

Jane Fonda shows up midway as a hotshot actress, and it’s a showy, hystrionics performance that’s very brief.

Paul Dano, excellent in most everything he does, portrays a very strange actor, whose condescending attitude will get him into trouble. Don’t understand the point of his character, though.

What Works

Luca Bigazzi’s cinematography is exquisite, and Caine and Keitel are compelling enough — interesting dynamic for them to be best buds.

What Doesn’t Work

The fantasy and dream sequences are jarring and, like “Birdman” last year, are too esoteric to fit into a cohesive narrative.

While this look at the golden years doesn’t particularly offer any new insights, it feels like it could have been so much better. Their goal was to be profound, but instead was merely pretentious.

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 3:31 PM with the headline "‘Youth’ is same old, same old."