Fails at being Compelling and Tonally All over the Place,

Rating: 3/10 (22 September 2017)

Youth is a poor film with a lousy plot and a terrific cast that deserved far better than this script. The cast is the only thing it really has going for itself if I am being honest, Michael Caine shines, as always in the lead role, he has a great back and forth with Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz, making their poor dialogue a lot more bearable.
It tries so hard to make us feel something. There are a lot of scenes that are meant to be hard hitting, dialogue that is supposed to be brutally honest, but it never gives us a real reason to feel for these characters or care for their heartache. They are all unlikeable and I felt no need to want to see them succeed.
As well as that, it is tonally all over the place, it jumps from intense drama to gross out comedy, it can never make up its mind on what it wants to be. The film has both an emotional monologue from Caine in which he talks about his love for his daughter and a scene where two old men watch a naked woman slowly enter a hot tub, it also has singer Paloma Faith playing herself in it.
All around, pure ridiculous. Ineffective in every way, Youth was not for me and I could not possibly recommend it.
A retired composer and his filmmaking friend reflect on their lives and the prospects of aging.
Best Performance: Michael Caine / Worst Performance: Paloma Faith