Young @ Heart

It’s like the 50-year reunion of High School Musical.

Director Stephen Walker presents a documentary featuring the Young at Heart chorus, which is comprised of senior citizens who sing rock and roll classics. At the beginning, Walker makes the most of the juxtaposition of older people singing the kind of music you would expect them to hate and tell their kid to turn down if it was playing on the stereo. Of course, we are supposed to giggle a little bit as the guy who has trouble walking is singing James Brown’s I Feel Good or as the group, with an average age of 80-years old, performs Staying Alive or I Wanna Be Sedated. However, Walker is smart enough to move beyond the obvious joke.

Young @ Heart becomes a compelling movie as we learn more about the people in the choir, the important role this group plays in their lives, the vitality they get from the activity and the hardships they must overcome to perform. We move from jokey songs to ones that have a special poignancy as we witness the changes the choir faces, and members of the audience are left ponder what we want to do with our golden years, while hoping to have half the energy these singers do. That’s because Walker has given us a chance to learn who the singers are as individuals, instead of relying on stereotypes and caricature.

After watching Young @ Heart, you will wish you can live this long and with this amount of life.

Young @ Heart is rated PG for some mild language and thematic elements.