In preparation for a concert in their hometown of Northampton, Massachusetts, and their next European tour, they spend seven weeks learning new songs by the likes of Sonic Youth, James Brown, Allen Toussaint, Coldplay, Jimi Hendrix, Talking Heads, and Prince, a task that is daunting for the members and frequently frustrating for Cilman.

[5] Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote that "At moments the movie ... risks being a cloying, rose-colored study of happy old folks at play, and the cheer sounds forced.

The movie offers an encouraging vision of old age in which the depression commonly associated with decrepitude is held at bay by music making, camaraderie and a sense of humor.

He felt that, "despite an occasional lapse into nudge-nudge jokes about geriatric sex, incontinence, and the driving skills of the elderly," the film "eschews the clichés about old people for something that we can all relate to: our own mortality.

"[7] The film was named the best of the year by Marc Mohan of The Oregonian, and it appeared on several year-end top ten lists, including those of the New York Daily News and The Hollywood Reporter.