The Upside

A Hollywood remake of the incredibly successful 2011 French film The Intouchables, The Upside gets most of its crowd-pleasing skills from its odd couple star pairing of Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart.  The movie is "inspired by a true story", but just like the earlier movie, it plays loose with the facts, and basically wants to be a genial and sweet entertainment that serves as two hours of escapism.  Thanks to the stars and some genuinely funny scenes, it succeeds.

Cranston plays Phil, a billionaire New York investor and author who became paralyzed from the neck down after a paragliding accident.  Ever since the loss of his wife to cancer, Phil sees little desire to go on, and basically wants to hole himself up in his penthouse, while he obsesses over what he has lost, and waits to die.  His assistant Yvonne (Nicole Kidman, making the most of a limited role) has begun searching for caregivers, and this is how Dell (Kevin Hart) enters the story.  Dell is a deadbeat dad and recently paroled ex-con who needs three signatures from businesses to show his parole officer that he is actually looking for employment.  He goes to Phil's apartment building, looking to apply for a janitor job, but due to a misunderstanding, he ends up in Phil's penthouse, interviewing for the caregiver position.  Dell is the least qualified man for the job, which is exactly what Phil likes about him.  If he is proved beyond help by a caregiver, maybe he can be left alone.

It's impossible not to think of the recent drama Green Book while you are watching The Upside, as both are about a black man and a white man from completely different worlds who manage to build a friendship, despite the differences.  And through their friendship, they realize that they both have a chance at life.  Phil is someone who once had it all, and feels he has nothing left to live for.  Dell, meanwhile, has never fully appreciated what he had, and now is trying his best to salvage what little he has left.  He is a decent man who was led down the wrong path in life.  Now that he is trying to change his ways, the people important to him don't trust him.  He has an estranged ex-wife and son that he is trying to reconnect with, but his past behavior have made them both distrusting of him.  These two men both fill a need for each other of emotional support, and help them realize that there is hope for both of them.

Director Neil Burger (Divergent) and screenwriter Jon Hartmere are not exactly doing anything bold or new here, although they do throw in the occasional nice moment, like when Dell takes Phil out to get some hot dogs, and chastises the food vendor for not asking Phil directly what he would like.  But we go along with it, because the performances of Cranston and Hart manage to pull us in, and they make a surprisingly good pairing.  Hart, in particular, has toned down his usual comedic motormouth routine here, and even gets to try his hand at some dramatic moments, which he shows some skill at.  It's nothing that will net him any award recognition or anything, but he believably sells the serious moments that he is handed.  And when he is asked to supply comedy to his performance, he wisely does not go quite so over the top as he sometimes does.  Even a somewhat slapstick-inspired sequence where he can't figure out how to use a high-tech voice operated shower in Phil's apartment manages to get laughs.

But it is Cranston who is giving the most effective performance, especially since he is forced to use only his face and his eyes to play his character.  Despite this, he manages to be forceful and command the screen just about every time he is on camera.  Even without the use of his full body, he sells every emotion, and we even believe the somewhat forced plot about how his cold exterior slowly melts away as he becomes friends with Dell.  And the reason why this all works is that we buy the chemistry between Cranston and Hart.  We see their hesitation with each other slowly melt away, and both do a good job of making us believe that these two men could wear down their defenses and become friends.  And since the entire movie hinges on their chemistry, they are what make the film works.  Even if the movie isn't always successful, we are invested because of them.

The Upside, just like Green Book, is not a subtle film, but it has enough heartfelt moments and great chemistry between the two leads that I ended up going along with it.  It's a simple and obvious movie, and that's okay.  Not everything needs a deeper meaning.  Sometimes it's nice just to spend a couple hours with some likable characters, laugh, and despite some obvious plot manipulations, maybe get involved a little more than you expected.

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