We attended the Toronto International Film Festival and will be sharing a series of reviews from our time at the event. Here are our reviews of Rosewater and While We’re Young!

‘Rosewater’

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart may seem like an unconventional choice to adapt a political memoir for his feature debut, but that gamble has certainly paid off in the new film Rosewater. The film is not without its faults, but as a whole it is smart, tense and shows great promise for Stewart as a filmmaker.

Rosewater is based on the 2011 memoir Then They Came For Me by Maziar Bahari, and it centers on the real-life false imprisonment of Bahari by Iranian officials. In the film, Bahari is played by Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mamá También), and we are introduced to him as he’s leaving his wife in London to cover the presidential elections in Iran for Newsweek. The year is 2009 and the young reporter is hungry and optimistic, two things that will be tested before his ordeal is over.

Stewart plays with the narrative as we jump between Bahari’s imprisonment and his home life back in London, giving a welcome respite from the harshness of his jail scenes. It’s in these jail scenes that Rosewater reveals the meat of its story as the movie becomes a back-and-forth verbal match between Bahari and his main interrogator. Nicknamed “Rosewater” after the strong scent he douses himself in, the curious examiner is just as iron-willed as Bahari and their scenes together are some of the best in the movie.

Jon Stewart has written and directed a tough adaptation for his first film, but we’re sure that’s the point. Playing it safe doesn’t seem to be in his wheelhouse, and Rosewater is filled with loads of potential. In reality, Bahari spent 118 days in one of the toughest prisons in Iran. A normal Hollywood movie would focus on the torture and harshness that genuinely happened in those days, but that’s an easy way to get an audience on your side. Instead, Stewart uses subtlety to get his point across more effectively, and it brings the film to a more unique and relatable level.

There are scenes where we flash back to Bahari before his capture where he’s interviewing and speaking to local Iranians about their current political situation. The scenes are mostly played straight, and it shows an even-handed look and an intelligence that will become a sharp contrast to Bahari’s false espionage charges.

Rating: B

Rosewater opens in limited release November 14.

‘While We’re Young’

Writer-director Noah Baumbach loves to tackle insecurity in his films, especially pertaining to artists. Whether it’s in Greenberg, The Squid and the Whale, or last year’s Frances Ha, that painful vulnerability is front and center in his work. His latest film, While We’re Young, plays to Baumbach’s strengths and focuses on the generational divide and problems between two couples, each striving for artistic perfection.

Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are in their 40s and surrounded by babies. Every one of their friends seems to be either having one or pressuring them to take that parental next step in their marriage. Fully confident in not wanting to be parents, their social circle becomes more limited as they begin to lose friends and find themselves aimless and confused. Josh is a documentarian who can’t seem to finish his latest project and Cornelia is more-or-less his glorified assistant.

Enter Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried), a young married couple in their 20s who put the H in hipster. With their vintage wardrobe and careless attitude, they are the exact opposite of Josh and Cornelia and yet the two couples seem attracted to each other regardless. Jamie is a huge fan of Josh’s film work and goes the extra mile to prove it while on the opposite side of the table Cornelia is the one desperate to seem young and hip, sticking to Darby like glue and hoping to turn back time.

The pros and cons in each couple are immediately apparent to the audience, but not to the characters themselves. In fact, we spend a lot of While We’re Young watching each side study the other with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and yet there’s an odd fascination to it all. Credit mostly goes to Baumbach and Stiller, who have crafted an interesting and sad reflection on age and missed opportunities. When Josh goes to his mentor (played with vibrant wit by Charles Grodin) for advice on his current project, there is a pain and sadness in his voice that is relatable and true. It’s the acknowledgement that things are very different from your original plan and the defeat and acceptance that Stiller gives in those quiet scenes is some of the best acting of his career.

Rating: B

While We’re Young does not currently have a release date.