Noah Baumbach ("Frances Ha," "Greenberg") examines the concept of youth in "While We're Young" with a kind of clinical detachment. There's no glorifying or romanticizing, and he certainly doesn't seem too enamored by today's Bright Young Things.

Not that this comes as a surprise — Baumbach is a low-temperature filmmaker who avoids heated passion and fevered arguments and he doesn't really care whether you like his characters, or his work. I imagine Baumbach to be the type of party guest who shows up very late, stands against a wall holding a drink and then leaves about 20 minutes later with a girl dressed all in black. The whole time, he has only two expressions — bored or vaguely bemused.

"While We're Young" does, however, have the distinction of being Baumbach's most engaging and least condescending film. His trademark ambivalence and half-heartedness is intact but a broad smile occasionally breaks through, like a ray of sunshine on an otherwise chilly day.