Starting with his own grandmother, Ari Seth Cohen has always been intrigued by and in awe of older women. As a street photographer in New York City, Cohen found an abundance of magnificent women -- women who refused to let age hold them back, who gloried in their maturing bodies and love of looking good. In Advanced Style, these women become his passion. He chose seven of them: the youngest in her early 60s, the oldest in her mid-90s, and among them an artist, a dancer during the earliest days of Harlem's Apollo Theater, a magazine executive, and the proprietor of Off Broadway, an iconic Manhattan store. What they have in common is a love for life, a flair for fashion, and an ease with being centerstage. What the movie lacks in narrative -- there's no "story" to speak of -- it more than makes up for in fun. Along with a camera crew, director Lina Plioplyte interviewed them, integrated herself into their lives, and, with more than a little help from Cohen, gave each of these ladies at least 15 minutes of fame. We see their joy at being noticed, at being pursued, and comfortably fitting into the spotlight into which they're thrust. We follow them to a fashion house in France and an appearance on the Ricki Lake Show and see their excitement of being stars for a moment.
