The
Upside
is a contrived, manipulative dramedy. It is a remake of the 2012
French movie The
Intouchables,
which was based on a true story, though this feels based more on
tired formulas than reality. It is also occasionally entertaining,
mildly funny even, with good performances. Whenever I was ready to
completely write it off, there was a good scene between its leads or
an amusing line. It tries so hard to be likable to the point of
pandering, but it is sometimes likable. It is a mixture of the
pleasant and the awkward.
Phillip
is a wealthy quadriplegic looking for a personal assistant to move
him, feed him, etc. Dell is an ex-con looking for work. They meet
when Dell reports to the wrong apartment for a job interview and
Phillip, on a whim, hires him. That leads to a wacky mismatched buddy
comedy with a lot of unearned emotions.
 |
| So then they asked me if I wanted to host the Oscars! |
The
Upside
could very well have been a disaster if it were not for its cast.
Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart and Nicole Kidman supply pretty much all
of the charm on display. Cranston is the quietly unhappy Phillip.
There has been some controversy about Cranston playing the role
instead of a quadriplegic actor. Without getting into that, Cranston
is characteristically good. He brings a depth and power that seem to
otherwise be missing from the screenplay. He does not really get to
go anywhere with it, however I did enjoy his reactions to Dell’s
fish-out-of-water behavior.
I
still am unsure how good of a dramatic actor Kevin Hart can be, but
this material is heavier than his usual comedies and he deals with it
just fine. Unfortunately, his character is a pile of clichés. He is
quite affable when the movie is not getting easy laughs off of some
of his immature and offensive behavior. Dell shows disgust at one of
his more intimate job responsibilities in a way that crosses the line
toward homophobia and there are several moments of him objectifying
women. Those actions would be somewhat forgivable if the movie then
showed him maturing, but no. They are played exclusively for humor
and are entirely unnecessary for his arc. The handling of his
character made it difficult to get into the story.
The
third major character is Nicole Kidman’s Yvonne, Phillip’s
devoted assistant. She mostly serves to move the plot forward. She
cares a lot about Phillip and does not trust Dell with his
well-being. She mainly looks concerned or stern, depending on which
of them she is talking to. She has a couple of scenes where she gets
to open up a little bit but, oddly enough, her biggest moment takes
place off-screen. Kidman does the best she can with a character that
is a waste of her considerable talents.
Watching
The
Upside
is an exercise in frustration. The elements are there, yet it goes
for the obvious joke nearly every time. It is about people taking
risks despite taking absolutely no risks itself. This is the exact
type of movie that I generally hate, but I did not hate it. The cast
made it watchable, turning potentially cringe-inducing material into
something almost okay. I cannot recommend it. In the end, the
negative outweighed the positive for me. For fans of the stars, it
may be worth a look regardless.
-Ben Pivoz
