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• Rotten Tomatoes

Young@Heart

(2008)

109 min. Fox Searchlight Pictures. Cast: Bob Cilman, Young@Heart.

With an average age of 80, the Young@Heart chorus stays terrifically active. Under the direction of tenacious Bob Cilman, the two dozen singers tackle challenging songs that are mostly rock and punk. There's an undeniable novelty to seniors singing The Clash, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, and Coldplay, but the film is most winning in its mini-dramas of overcoming health-related adversities, both as individuals and as a group. Director Stephen Walker intrudes with an editorializing narration, but otherwise Young@Heart is a pure emotional experience, stoking affection, hope, and musical enjoyment. Among other achievements, the film made me actually appreciate that annoyingly ubiquitous Coldplay single "Fix You." From the vocal chords of a man with portable respiratory aid, sung in memory of a fallen friend, the song gains potent personal resonance.

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