The Upside (Review)
The Upside Proves to Be a Remake that Falls Short of the Original but Isn’t a Half Bad Movie.
The Upside is one of those rare remakes that might not be quite as good as the original (The Intouchables) but isn’t a half bad movie overall. Sure it might be riddled with cliches, but there’s a reason tiny story elements grow up to be great big cliches and that’s because, like it or not, they work most of the time. The fact of the matter is that when you have actors like Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart there’s going to be a certain amount of charm and charisma no matter how bad a movie is overall, and this proves to be the saving grace of The Upside.
These days it’s getting harder and harder to separate the artist from the art, and this is especially true for Hart who plays a former con named Dell. Dell is a bit, how should I put this, he’s a bit of a prick. He’s ignorant, self-centered, narcissistic, and just an all-around asshole when we first meet him. A dead beat dad who blames everyone and everything around him for his problems. In other words, he’s perfectly designed to undergo a transformative journey when he lands a life-saving job as an “auxiliary aid” for billionaire Phillip (Bryan Cranston). Unfortunately, neither writer Jon Hartmere or director Neil Burger really get the whole hero’s journey thing as well as a movie like The Upside deserves.
While there is an overarching tale throughout The Upside the film focuses heavily on the smaller adventures of Cranston and Hart where they can shoot quips back and forth. While both actors are quite good on their own and seem to share a genuine connection on screen, they seem a bit mismatched overall. First of all, Hart is not one of those comedians who translates well to drama, which has never really been the case before. Hart’s style of comedy is loud and aggressive, which when toned down only makes him seem like a jerk overall. More importantly, though, he never gets a chance to really shine as the comedic element to this film because Cranston’s character easily keeps up with him. With Cranston not only playing a more dramatic part and being just as funny, Hart seems superfluously cast in The Upside. A name specifically added only to put butts in seats and dollars in the box office. He might not do a half bad job but he’s a bit outmatched on screen.
The Upside is essentially a story that is supposed to be about two men who give each other a second chance at life. Dell is a former convict who doesn’t have a lot of options left after getting out of prison and has never had a hand held out to offer him help. Phillip is billionaire a quadriplegic who believes that people only show him humanity when they realize that he’s a billionaire and want something from him. Together the two are poised to teach each other many valuable lessons when it comes to being thankful for what they have. However, The Upside is a bit of a bungling mess when it comes to these delicate thematic elements. It’s clear that both the writer and director knew that they needed to be included, but they never manage to fully grasp the best way to display the subtleties of their blossoming relationship.
Phillip essentially hires Dell for two reasons 1) because it will annoy his loyal and self-appointed guardian (played by Nichole Kidman) and 2) because hopefully Dell has no idea what he’s doing and Phillip can finally die, which is pretty dark. However, the two become fast friends from the get-go. There’s no warming up to each other and cultivating a sense of mutual respect. Instead, their friendship seems exactly like what you might see from two excited kindergartners meeting for the first time. They just simply are good friends. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this, but it really undermines the dramatic aspects of the film and the growth of the characters. There are no highs or lows in their relationship because The Upside just brushes past the lows in order to get back to Hart and Cranston being funny together again.
I want to be clear that The Upside is not a bad movie (even though it did come out in January). It’s much better than I feared it would be, but that’s not because it’s a well-made film. It’s most definitely competent, but it mistakenly confuses being light-hearted for having a heart in general. Cranston and Hart prove to be the highlights of the film because of their comedic chops. Even then though, Hart can’t stack up to Cranston who has years more experience blending comedy with drama and has the much richer character to work with. However, watching the two work together proves to be much more enjoyable than I would have thought possible. The Upside got more than a few laughs out of me and a lot out of my fellow moviegoers.
