The Upside

The Upside

Starring Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, Genevieve Angelson

Directed by Neil Burger

The Story:
Having left prison, Dell Scott (Kevin Hart) needs to find a job in order to maintain his freedom, and reluctantly goes to a high rise apartment complex thinking he's applying for a janitorial position.  There he meets uptight Yvonne (Nicole Kidman) and her boss Phillip (Bryan Cranston), who's a paraplegic.  Phillip offers the job to Dell despite him being very unqualified, and Dell accepts in hopes it will provide for his son who's living with his estranged girlfriend Jenny (Genevieve Angelson).

While Yvonne watches with a skeptical eye, Dell learns to tend to Phillip's every need, but discovers that he was hired because he was so unqualified that Phillip felt Dell would just let him die, since he has nothing to live for after his wife's death.  Dell helps show Phillip that life is still worth living, while Phillip exposes Dell to the more finer things in life like opera, and the two become the most unlikely of friends.

The Synopsis:
"The Upside" is based off a 2011 French film called "The Intouchables" starring Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy, who earned the Cesar Award (the French equivalent of the Oscar) for his performance.  The film became the most watched movie in France, and became the highest grossing movie in a language other than English, so it was only a matter of time before it got the polished, English-speaking treatment.

That happened this year, with the release of "The Upside."  While it cast some of today's best actors, it failed to really exhibit the emotional depth and humility that the original did, and since it's based on the real-life friendship of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou, didn't really do them - or the source material - justice.  Still, if you watch the film apart from comparing it, it turns into a really fun, moving piece of cinema that does maintain a paint-by-numbers feel, but leaves you feeling good.

Kevin Hart takes a small step out of his typical role of the "think only of myself, be a hustler, and cry about my injustices" comedic role and steps into a "think only of myself, be a hustler, and cry about my injustices" dramatic role.  While his typical acting style becomes stale by the last half of the first half of the film, it becomes much more tolerable when he's paired with greatness like Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman.  As Dell Scott, Hart embodies the character as he would with pretty much every character of his career - a ne'er do well with the heart of gold - and really plays to his strengths.  It's refreshing to see it play out here instead of his typical mindless comedies, because "The Upside" actually demands him to be a more thoughtful character than his previous caricatures.

As the wealthy paraplegic Phillip, Bryan Cranston also adheres to the typical stereotypes of his character - forlorn, depressed, not really having a lot to live for - and adds a deeper sense to the character as he continues to interact with Dell.  The two men work perfectly off one another, and you can really sense a comradere between the actors as well as the characters themselves as they "Odd Couple" their way throughout the movie.  While Dell doesn't understand Phillip's appreciation for opera, Phillip can't grasp why Dell loves listening to the Queen (Aretha Franklin, as if you didn't know).  Dell doesn't get Phillip's love for art, while Phillip doesn't understand the life Dell grew up in.  Yet both share a fond appreciation for marijuana - after Dell introduces Phillip to it - which becomes one of the funnest and funniest moments of the film.

The third piece of this puzzle is Nicole Kidman, who's criminally underrused as Phillip's assistant Yvonne.  Her character is so thinly written it could've been performed by any unnamed actress, so I don't know why they brought Kidman - or even why she would agree to do it - in.  She's the standard uptight assistant who's hesitant of Dell's streetwise charm and continually watches him to find ways to fire him, but as Phillip warms up to Dell, she begins to as well, allowing herself to become more free in the process.

Even though the film is formulaic - I waited throughout the film for that "all is lost" moment, and of course there was one - it leaves you with a comforting feeling inside.  Like there's some real hope in the world, where you see two of the most opposite people getting along so well, even though you don't really get a feel for either character in their two-hour showtime beyond the glossed over moments.  Even when it hits the fan, it's done in a very lighthearted way that's almost undermined by the entirety of the story, as if the director had to throw that in there because it's what's required and quickly glosses over it afterward.  Still, there's many more times I was smiling than frowning, and for me I call that a win.

The Summary:
Forgetting the source material, you'll find "The Upside" an actually fun, funny film about two polar opposites becoming friends, brought by decent performances by Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston that will leave you smiling after the credits roll.

The Score: A-