SummaryThe friendship between a couple of high school boys in California, both snowboarders and evangelical Christians, is explored in this documentary by Eliazabeth Mimsand Jason Tippet.
Directed By:Elizabeth Mims, Jason Tippet
Only the Young
Metascore
Generally Favorable
71
User score
Mixed or Average
4.8
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
71
67% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
33% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Feb 20, 2013
89
And yet that is what is so very remarkable about the film: In a slim 72 minutes, it heart-tethers us to these teenagers, paying tribute to their unique and private selves while allowing the audience to see its own reflection in them.
Dec 5, 2012
83
Not much of real significance happens, which makes Only The Young feel a bit slight, even at a mere 70 minutes. At the same time, though, every hint of direct conflict threatens to break the spell, in part because the film's secret subject is adolescent self-consciousness.
User score
Mixed or Average
4.8
50% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
50% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jan 12, 2013
9
"Only the Young" is a BEST independent movie ever made. That movie is named after the song performed by Journey, one of my favorite songs I ever heard about.
Sep 23, 2013
7
First of all, this film is beautifully shot and the filmmakers manage to capture a lot of truth. If there's a "message," it's that, in an age of absentee parents, skater culture, pink hair and noserings, there's still an innocence to youth. Relationships develop at their own pace and in their own ways, and they can end up stronger for it. The idea that there's an explicitly Christian message doesn't really hold up, because at times the church isn't even portrayed in a particularly positive light. At its core, this is just a lovely little character study.
Dec 3, 2012
75
Jason Tippet and Elizabeth Mims refuse to use their subjects as test cases for any sort of larger thesis.
Dec 6, 2012
70
If Mr. Tippet and Ms. Mims weren't such accomplished visual stylists, you might even think that the teenagers shot the documentary themselves, which explains both its appeal and its limitations.
Dec 4, 2012
70
Only the Young captures the lyricism of late childhood and the bewilderment of the road ahead. As for the skate footage, it's shot for pure glory and for all the world, like Wild China or Blue Planet, beautiful beings struggling in exotic habitats: abandoned houses, red-gold bluffs, and run-down mini-golf courses.
Dec 4, 2012
60
At times, the film's lyrical drift shades into incoherence, spackled with globs of free-floating voiceover and Larry Clark-like indolent moments. It's both lovely and frustrating, at least until hard times lay bare the gulf between Skye's fractured family and the boys' more stable lives.
Jan 10, 2013
50
A charming, aimless film about the aimless. It plays like a nuanced MTV reality show (an oxymoron, perhaps, but you get the idea).
Release Date:Dec 7, 2012
Duration:1 h 12 m
Tagline:Children are the gods of this city.
Awards
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Philadelphia Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
