The Upside 2019

Helping people is good. It’s good for the people you’re helping and it’s good for you as well. That’s the message behind The Upside, a film that’s not only based upon a true story, but is an Americanized remake of The Intouchables, one of the most popular French films in history. History. It’s a film I’ve been wanting to see since I first heard about it, but the history of its distribution is one of annoyance. This film was shipped around to a very small handful of film festivals in 2017, so a lot of people designate it as a 2017 film – but literally it’s biggest viewership is undoubtedly when it went wide in 2019 – so…I see it as a 2019 movie. Sue me.

Because the original film is a very loved film, it’s going to be practically impossible for those that have seen it not to compare the two films. However, given my distaste for dialogue-heavy foreign films, I’m not in that audience, so I won’t be comparing anything today. Instead, I’m going with what my gut tells me about this film – and one of the main things was…I’m not sure they needed star power for a movie like this. Yes, Bryan Cranston is a powerfully talented actor, but he’s not the only one around. Having Cranston, Hart, and Kidman are nice and everything, but I may have been happier with a cast of unknowns in the lead instead, but as it is, it’s totally fine, but the one thing I’m not sensing from this film is a connection to “the most successful French film in history”. Maybe it’s massively different, I don’t know, but it just feels like an average film to me.

PEOPLE – 65% (13/20)
Acting – ★★★☆ | Characters – ★★★☆ | Casting – ★★☆☆ | Importance – ★★☆☆ | Chemistry – ★★★☆

As mentioned above, I’m not sure choosing A-class Hollywood actors was necessarily the right step. They do fine, sure, but I think they unintentionally also make it feel more like a production than a film about genuine human emotion and friendship. That being said, I believe they each have their moments that make the film feel at least slightly special, but the moments don’t occur as often as maybe the audience would prefer. You see dynamics and mirroring themes among the characters together versus in their individual lives, which helps deepen their roles, you even see some pretty decent acting and moments of chemistry…but none of that ever reaches its full potential. It ultimately never gets to where it should arrive in any of these subcategories, which ends up leaving the viewer only slightly disappointed.

FUN FACT – While watching, the film made me feel sad about Christopher Reeve, since he had to physically go through something similar…but also, the fact that he’s no longer with us and would’ve been PERFECT in the role.

WRITING – 80% (8/10)
Dialogue – ★★ | Balance – ★☆ | Story Depth – ★★ | Originality – ★☆ | Interesting – ★★

I think the general concept is The Upside is a film that focused very deeply on having something well-written. Anything in the film industry should do the same, but when you’re talking about a biographical film, it’s especially important to focus on the writing, and they did. Although it’s subtle, the dialogue is definitely important in the film. Beyond the poetic musings from Cranston’s character, you also have a lot of inner-dialogues going on verbalized through the characters’ actions that drives the narrative. It’s honestly a very meaningful film in more ways than I can really list here, but a big part of it comes to dealing with our own past, coming to terms with life, forgiving yourself, re-purposing your insecurities to something more positive…the list goes on. Being a true story, it obviously doesn’t follow a simple objective narrative, as most films do. It’s rather loose as far as the balance goes, but the friendship does help it stay together. Originality-wise? Yes, it’s a true story, but it’s more than that. At the end of the day, it’s about an unlikely caretaker that learns a lesson about himself along the way – something done a million times before. I mean, it does feel fresh, but that’s all I can say about it.

BTS – 70% (7/10)
Visuals – ★☆ | Cinematography – ★☆ | Editing – ★☆ | Advertising – ★★ | Music & Sound – ★☆

You’d almost think while watching the trailers that the film would be Oscar-bait, something often focused on in the BTS-category. Yet, nothing really impresses you in this category. Nothing about the visuals screams great practical or visual effects, costume design, production design, lights or colors. The cinematography itself is FINE, but the most you’ll notice is a general rural feel when it came to following around Kevin Hart, which is fine, but nothing that stands out. I feel like anyone could’ve been the editor. The only thing that was important was a slight focus on the music. Music partially plays important to the plot, which is why I gave that full points.

NARRATIVE ARC – 80% (8/10)
Introduction – ★★ | Inciting Incident – ★★ | Obstacles – ★☆ | Climax – ★★ | Resolution – ★☆

The narrative structure in this film was better than most biographical films like it. It does take the time to introduce you to the main players, their motivations, the general theme of the film, the setting…all of that. The inciting incident is when Kevin Hart is offered the job – the crossing of the threshold is when he accepts it. There aren’t any real obstacles, since there isn’t MUCH of a character goal going on for Hart’s character other than to generally make money. That’s it. There is a pretty decent culmination of events towards the end that you can easily call the climax, and the resolution is…fine. It only has one of the two requirements for a perfect resolution, but I digress.

ENTERTAINMENT – 40% (4/10)
Rewatchability – ★☆ | Fun Experience – ★★ | Impulse to Buy or Own it – ☆☆ | Impulse to Talk About or Recommend It – ☆☆ | Riveting – ★☆

As I said before, I don’t think the film feels magical enough to feel special. It mostly just feels like another movie. Whether or not that’s a good thing is completely up to you, but I expected more. As far as being rewatchable – I’d watch it again someday, but not soon. I did generally have a good time while watching the film, so the Fun subcategory gets full points. I have zero impulses to buy it, own it, talk about it, or recommend it. None at all, so those all get no points. There is enough happening in the film, however, that you feel as if you MAY miss something important if you leave the room for too long, to use the bathroom, for example. It doesn’t feel like you can’t blink, but it’s riveting enough.

SPECIALTY – 75% (30/40)
- Biopic – ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
So, we’re talking about a biographical tale, and for that, I like to learn something about another human being and ultimately feel as if it was a story that deserved to be told. I would say I kind of learned something about these characters, but because it essentially just feels like another movie, I didn’t immediately think it felt like a movie that needed to be made.
-Dramedy – ★★★★★★★★★★
Dramedy = Comedy/Drama. More than that, it often means something that feels heartwarming, like a feel-good film, and for the most part, you do feel good while watching it. Kids will be bored, but parents and adults will be able to understand and appreciate the messages in the film.
-Actor-Specific – ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Usually, I have an actor-specific subcategory, but I’m usually more specific on who. I’m not here, because I generally wanted to see how this worked as a Bryan Cranston film just as much as I did for a Kevin Hart film…the answer is the same – it’s decent, but it’s nothing you are going to remember forever. For Hart, I wanted something similar to Stranger Than Fiction, but in the end, it just never reached that level.
-Halfway Decent – ★★★★★★★★★★
Even being just a typical film, I still think the filmmaker ultimately made the movie he set out to make from the get go, so that deserves credit.

TOTAL SCORE – 70%
(70/100 possible stars)

I am no friend of remakes, and I am especially no friend of Hollywood remakes of hit movies just to make them Hollywood - especially if the remake comes out in a really short time after the original did and if additionally it doesn't even try to be creative. E.g. even though a lot of people hate it (for understandable reasons) I would say Rob Zombies remake of Halloween is a valid remake, as he tries to give the story a totally other viewing point, a different interpretation and a totally own style - and he did it in the 00s to a movie from the 70s. But Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? (2009 vs 2011) Let the Right one In (2008 vs. 2010's Let me In?) - having exact 1-to-1 copies just with Hollywood stars and fishing away any further success that the foreign movie could have had, even in the U.S.? Come on.

The Upside is the Hollywood remake of the french surprise hit "Intouchables" (https://trakt.tv/movies/the-intouchables-2011), and as soon as it turned out to be a surprise, The Weinstein Company acquired the rights for a remake, that was started just the instant they had the rights. Thankfully production had a lot of problems, e.g. there where at least 5 directors that started and left the production, and the actors where switching as well, from Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx and Irdris Elba and Chris Tucker we finally got down to Kevin Hart. And Colin Firth finally got switched to Bryan Cranston, and Jessica Chastaine and Michelle Williams where eventually replaced by Nicole Kidman.

For me this was a movie that I was bound to skip - I never cared too much for Nicole Kidman, and though I love Bryan Cranston, I have to say that I really really detest Kevin Hart. So, as I didn't plan to go to see this movie, Fortuna took it upon her to make me see it anyways: It was screened at a sneak preview.

Let me get back to Kevin Hart: In this movie - and it really is the first - I really liked him. Wow is this guy a good actor, once he starts playing serious roles and is not doing his usual silly small guy clown routine. I really liked his acting, he was really believable and I felt really sympathetic towards his role and his character. Please Kevin Hart, do more roles like this. It suits you so much better than the stupid comedy stuff. Bryan Cranston was great as usual. And then there was Nicole Kidman. And wow. I really loved her as well! First, i wasn't even sure if that's actually Nicole Kidman, because to me she looked too young to be her. Yet she was. And her acting was really superb, you knew exactly what was going on with her right from the moment you saw her - without her even saying a thing. That was some really great acting - I actually didn't see too many movies of hers, but after seeing this performance I am really looking forward to seeing some of the other works she has done. I've got a lot to catch up, I guess!

Acting was great, music was great, and if it weren't for the bold copy of the entire story, I would be even giving this movie a higher rating. Still it was a surprise to me and even though it is one of these remakes nobody asked for, I am happy to have seen it just for the performances.

I'd still recommend all of you to watch the original, but if you like to see Kevin Hart in a serious role or if you are a fan of Nicole Kidman or Bryan Cranston, you might enjoy this remake. Just make sure to watch the original first, because it deserves the credit!