Young@Heart

Review in a Hurry:  Seniors and Sonic Youth usually don't mix, but they collide head-on in this documentary about a choir of senior citizens with a repertoire that spans from standards to punk. Under the guidance of director Stephen Walker, it's as delightful and whimsical as it sounds.

The Bigger Picture:  If you didn't know Young@Heart was a nonfiction film, you couldn't be blamed for thinking it's a mockumentary. There's the assertively sincere Monty-Python-esque British filmmaker narrating with gusto, doddering choir members loudly protesting newfangled music, geriatric ladies flirting with the cameramen, sopranos in the back row nodding off during rehearsal. It's old people, warts and all, and almost too funny to be real.

There's a reason why all this candid behavior unfolds so easily: The elderly don't have any time left for self-consciousness. The members let Walker into their homes, hospital rooms, hearts and souls. By the time they take their bows for the sold-out show at the end of the doc, they all feel like family.

If the chorus is the engine of the movie, choir director Bob Cilman is at the steering wheel. He's got the hair and the heart of a hippie, and the discipline of a prison warden, wielding an iron fist with the old folks that they respect and, comically, fear. Through interviews, his articulation of what the experience means to his choir helps shape the movie into a cohesive whole.

The unifying power of music resonates most during the choir's big show, when a man surviving on an oxygen machine brings down the house singing a Coldplay ballad. Everyone, young and old, can identify with and relate to the lyrics of a song that was born right about when these singers were starting to contemplate death. Music can move you, no matter what style, no matter who performs. That's the most poignant lesson of Young@Heart.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  Like any kindly old lady, the movie is sentimental, honest and chuckle-worthy. This is no intense probing of the world's ills or a rollicking adventure for adrenaline junkies. It's more of a gentle night at the movies that demands just a little a patience.