Ben Stiller is a polarizing figure. He has kid-friendly and sometimes unfunny films like “Madagascar” and “Night at the Museum” under his belt, along with great dramedies such as “Greenberg” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

“While We’re Young” (rated R; 94 min) directed by Noah Baumbach, falls on the latter side, expressing a compelling, well told story of life-changing proportions.

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Cornelia and Josh, played by Naomi Watts and Stiller, are stuck in a rut. Both have trouble finding excitement in their marriage. Josh has been working on a documentary for 10 years and still cannot finish it, and Cornelia struggles with her inability to have children, while their friends are having kids without trouble.

Josh soon meets Jamie and Darby, played by Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried, a young couple auditing Josh’s film class.  He and Cornelia go out to dinner with the twenty-something pair and become jealous of their lives. As the two duos grow closer, the younger couple’s intentions become murky. Josh and Cornelia start to reexamine what it means to be an adult.

The movie could have become pretentious garbage, as some coming out of the indie circuit tend to do. But with the wonderful performances of the entire cast, a smart underlining theme and characters who are flawed but undeniably lovable, the film moves way past any ostentatious qualities.

“While We’re Young” provides what may be a great actor and director relationship between Baumbach and Stiller. The two worked together on “Greenberg,” a movie similar in theme. This corresponding quality could have hurt this movie, but the film really only serves as artists forming their craft.

The two main characters are extremely compelling leads. Even at the age of 22, it is hard for me not to sympathize with the two’s middle-aged problems. Their performance will inspire you to cross your fingers in the hope they will escape disaster.

Josh is a typical, but relatable, creative type of person. He is unable to finish his documentary because he is plagued by his need of perfection. He is so afraid of failing, he cannot edit. Cornelia feels out of place. Unable to have children, she struggles to fight all of the judgement from women around her.

Cornelia represents the movie’s only failure to create a dynamic character.

For most of the movie, the audience is given Josh’s perspective — an adult looking for his hero, fighting old age and trying to find his own greatness. He is well-developed. On the other hand, Cornelia has a few dynamic scenes, but nothing noteworthy.

The movie has several running themes in the film, all of which correlate well with the mid-life crisis storyline. Only one fails on impact.

The idea of a hero, someone a character looks up to, is questioned indefinitely. Josh has a solid figure in Cornelia’s father. A famous documentarian himself, he wants nothing more than to help Josh on his creative journey, but a faulty sense of pride stops him from taking the man’s help.

Instead, the character looks toward Jamie as his guru. In her young, hip way, Jamie shows him a life he used to know — a life he still wants. This almost hero worship of Jamie makes Josh fail to see all the signs of someone taking advantage of him. Jamie’s true character goes right past him.

The film tries to get on the trend of the “Facedown Generation.” The film even questions whether these devices people use make them cold and callous. But the attempt ends up being trite and generic.

The movie is like an old man talking about how cell phones and constant Internet service are instantly bad. This idea clashes and ultimately disables a point made earlier in the film in which Jamie’s ways were caused by his youth. 

Stars: 4 out 5 stars.