{"id":11172,"date":"2019-01-24T04:51:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T04:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/?p=11172"},"modified":"2019-02-12T00:45:09","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T00:45:09","slug":"the-upside-accurately-named-unexpected-and-inspirational-buddy-comedy-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/24\/the-upside-accurately-named-unexpected-and-inspirational-buddy-comedy-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"THE UPSIDE – ACCURATELY NAMED, UNEXPECTED AND INSPIRATIONAL BUDDY COMEDY-DRAMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

AUDIO PODCAST OPTION OF THE UPSIDE<\/em> REVIEW<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/2019_02_11_12_37_35-Upside-audio-review.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

SHORT TAKE:<\/p>\n

Wonderful and beautifully acted movie, based on a true story,\u00a0about a quadriplegic and the unlikely friendship he forms with an untrained and world-wise ex-con who\u00a0is hired to be\u00a0his caretaker.<\/p>\n

WHO SHOULD GO:<\/p>\n

Mid-teens and up only –\u00a0for\u00a0language, topics of conversation, a bit of\u00a0 bawdy behavior with\u00a0a couple of\u00a0paid\u00a0female companions,\u00a0and some\u00a0realistic though mostly unseen necessaries involving the care of a paralyzed man.<\/p>\n

LONG TAKE:<\/p>\n

The Upside<\/em> is a remake of the French film \"\"<\/a>The Intouchables<\/em>. The story is based on\u00a0the real relationship between the wealthy quadriplegic \"\"<\/a>Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his caretaker Abdel Sellou. In the movie, respectively, the characters names are <\/span>\"\"<\/a>Phillip Lacasse, (Bryan Cranston most famously of\u00a0Breaking Bad<\/em>)\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Dell Scott (Kevin Hart most recently of the Jumanji<\/em> remake), the latter a down-on-his-luck ex-con who is behind in his child support \"\"<\/a>and broke. Though Dell has no skills in taking care of anyone, let alone a disabled man, Dell\u2019s blunt, un-indulgent and pragmatic personality appeals to \"\"<\/a>Phillip who is weary of having everyone walk eggshells around him and treat him like a fragile hothouse flower. Each man has been broken in their own way by their own mistakes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One would not, on first glance, think that a movie about a man so severely disabled and\u00a0a caretaker with\u00a0a\u00a0ill-functioning moral compass, would be funny. \"\"<\/a>But it\u00a0IS very funny — and very human, as well as delightfully inspirational. Everyone faces obstacles in life and Dell and Phillip exemplify the near extremes of challenges, respectively, of upbringing and the physical.<\/p>\n

Courage is not the lack of feeling fear but of experiencing every painful moment of it and pressing forward anyway. \"\"<\/a>And this is what Dell and Phillip learn to do with the aid of each others\u2019 examples as well as their friends and family, even when those supports are initially pushed away. \"\"<\/a>Everyone will be able to related to at least some feature of these brave men\u2019s disadvantages.<\/p>\n

Cranston is brilliant in the kind of performance I haven’t seen since \"\"<\/a>Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot <\/em>or \"\"<\/a>Joaquin Phoenix’ Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot.<\/em>\u00a0Cranston performs the entire movie using only facial gestures and the occasional head gesture, but you quickly forget his movement limitations in Cranston\u2019s compelling and versatile performance. \"\"<\/a>The normally frenetic Kevin Hart modulates his talents into the breath of fresh air that Phillip desperately needs. The two friends together make up one really good man. And they teach each other to face their fears and face the world with courage, determination and a renewed sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Nicole Kidman, in a turn that is way better than her teeth grittingly breathy and campy \"\"<\/a>Atlana in Aquaman<\/em>, here\u00a0in Upside<\/em> is absolutely adorable as Phillip’s \"\"<\/a>fussy and protective executive assistant, Yvonne.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Much of the movie takes place in Phillip\u2019s apartment, and I couldn’t help thinking that this could easily be converted into a lovely theatrical play.<\/p>\n

The songs incorporated into the structure of the script are delightful and as eclectic as the combination of \"\"<\/a>Dell\u2019s and Phillip\u2019s personalities. Tunes range from Nat King Cole and Aretha Franklin to Rigoletto and Carmen. \"\"<\/a>The background soundtrack is intense and reflects the longing of the characters to be better men regardless of their ultimately superficial limitations. The movie, especially considering it is based on a true story, is inspirational.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I highly recommended this movie but for mid-teens and up only because of language, topics of conversation,\u00a0mostly unseen\u00a0illicit sexuality,\u00a0and some quite humorous and genuine situations brought about by the circumstances of Phillip\u2019s infirmity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So, major kudos\u00a0to Hart and Cranston for tackling this project with such tact, respect and skill,\u00a0and hopefully some award wins for Cranston, at least, in this captivating, charming, and truly compelling story of a beautiful platonic friendship and the strength those unlikely friends give each other.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUDIO PODCAST OPTION OF THE UPSIDE REVIEW SHORT TAKE: Wonderful and beautifully acted movie, based on a true story,\u00a0about a quadriplegic and the unlikely friendship he forms with an untrained and world-wise ex-con who\u00a0is hired to be\u00a0his caretaker. WHO SHOULD GO: Mid-teens and up only –\u00a0for\u00a0language, topics of conversation, a bit of\u00a0 bawdy behavior with\u00a0a … Continue reading THE UPSIDE – ACCURATELY NAMED, UNEXPECTED AND INSPIRATIONAL BUDDY COMEDY-DRAMA<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2594,2605,639,2595,2584,2598,2599,2607,116,2582,2604,2591,2588,2601,2600,2583,2585,2739,2587,243,2602,2606,2609,2589,2593,2592,2603,2597,2718,2590,1374,488,9,2608,2596,2586,1484],"class_list":["post-11172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abdel-sellou","tag-aretha-franklin","tag-audio","tag-borgo","tag-breaking-bad","tag-buddy-movie","tag-caretaker","tag-carmen","tag-comedy","tag-cranston","tag-day-lewis","tag-dell-scott","tag-ex-con","tag-french","tag-friendship","tag-hart","tag-intouchables","tag-iphone","tag-kidman","tag-movie-review","tag-my-left-foot","tag-nat-king-cole","tag-opera","tag-paralyzed","tag-philippe-pozzo-di-borgo","tag-phillip-lacasse","tag-phoenix","tag-platonic","tag-podcast","tag-quadraplegic","tag-real-life","tag-remake","tag-review","tag-rigoletto","tag-sellou","tag-upside","tag-wealthy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/poster-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6mhKV-2Uc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11172"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11474,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11172\/revisions\/11474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}