Review: Up (2009)

[Steve Rhodes]

UP
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ****

Eschewing the more traditional subjects of kids movies (toys, fish, bugs or 
robots), UP, Pixar's latest offering, is about one of the least likely 
subjects possible for the genre, a senior citizen.  I suspect that it would 
take geniuses like the gifted artists at Pixar to make such a subject 
touching and compelling for audiences of all ages.

UP isn't merely good -- it is a thoroughly entertaining film that is 
downright great.  Okay, so it doesn't quite rise to level of WALL-E, Pixar's 
last picture, which I thought was one of the best films ever made, but UP 
earned a certain place on my list of this year's best movies.

New animated movies seem to all be made in 3-D these days.  With UP, Pixar 
has joined the 3-D bandwagon.  As would be expected, given the studio's 
reputation for quality, I am pleased to report that this was the first 3-D 
film that I've seen that never hurt my old eyes even a little bit.  While UP 
is presented in 3-D, the movie, thanks to the skill of the writers and 
animators, would work just as well in 2-D.  Never do the animators resort to 
the old trick of trying to make you jump by suddenly sticking some object in 
your face, just because 3-D gives them the opportunity.

When we meet the story's main character, Carl Fredricksen (voiced as a child 
by Jeremy Leary and as an adult by Edward Asner), he is a taciturn and shy 
little boy.  He learns his spirit of adventure when he meets Ellie (voiced 
by Elie Docter), the love of his life.  She is a rambunctious motormouth 
with dreams as big as her large mop of bright red hair.

Ellie invites Carl to join her previously one-person club.  She has one 
overriding goal.  She yearns to visit Paradise Falls in South America. 
Explaining where and what that continent is, she lectures him that, "It's 
like America," and then adds with breathless excitement, "but south!"

Soon after this point in the narrative, the movie enters a long silent 
phase, much like the long silent sections of WALL-E, as it tells Carl and 
Ellie's life story.  This is one of many places in which you should be 
prepared to shed a tear or two, as the drama is extremely effective and 
realistic.  Carl and Ellie have a habit of saving by putting their hard 
earned money into a family savings jar, only to have to empty it regularly 
during periods of unexpected financial hardships.  My family regularly did 
the exact same thing when I was growing up.  Some of the other dead-on jokes 
in the movie, which those of us who know or are senior citizens will attest 
to their accuracy, involve hearing aids, including one about the screech 
they make that can sometimes be so loud as to scare the animals.

Carl, who makes a living as a balloon seller to kids, eventually has to move 
from the home that Carl and Ellie so lovingly fixed up over the years.  But, 
rather than leave his house, he leaves with his house, thanks to the 
collective lifting power of zillions of colorful balloons.  This portion of 
the movie will bring to mind the tornado sequence from THE WIZARD OF OZ.  A 
later episode in the story is directly lifted from STAR WARS, but, overall, 
the movie borrows most liberally from the great FITZCARRALDO by German 
director Werner Herzog.  The latter movie concerns the Herculean effort of 
building and then moving an opera house through the middle of the Peruvian 
jungle.  There is little to no chance that any of the kids will pick up on 
this homage.

In addition to Carl and Ellie, there are so many other great characters in 
UP that it's hard to pick favorites.  A dog named Dug (voiced by Bob 
Peterson) has to be the best of the bunch.  Through the use of a special 
collar designed by Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer), the 
movie's rather lame villain, Dug and the rest of the dogs can speak English, 
as well as other languages if you turn a knob on the collar.  A classic 
doofus dog, Dug is hilarious.  Wanting to capture a colorful Ostrich-sized 
bird named Kevin, Dug pleads with him, "Please, oh please, oh please be my 
prisoner."

Another endearing character in UP is Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai), a 
young scout working on his last merit badge, one for assisting the elderly, 
so that he can finally become a "Senior Wilderness Explorer."  Although he 
would happily settle for helping Carl across the street, he is also willing 
to follow Carl around the world if that is what it takes.

I have barely scratched the surface on the reasons I adore this wonderful 
film, which will delight audiences of all ages.  (If you promise not to tell 
anyone, I'll reveal a secret -- just to you.  This movie will probably leave 
adult viewers liking it even better than the kids, but everyone will leave 
enchanted.)  My only complaint about what was a super evening at the theater 
was that Pixar did not follow their usual strategy of presenting one of 
their marvelous short films before the featured attraction.

UP runs 1:36.  It is rated PG for "some peril and action" and would be 
acceptable for all ages.

My son Jeffrey, age 20, gave the film a full ****, saying that, although it 
didn't quite reach the level of WALL-E, he really loved UP.  He liked the 
way it was funny while completely avoiding any potty humor.  He thought the 
film again proved the value of the "Pixar stamp," guaranteeing that 
everything would be wonderful.  He remarked too that the film left him 
feeling so happy.  He connected with all of characters, which he found to be 
a good mix of funny and dramatic.

Jeffrey's girlfriend Yasmin, age 19, loved it too, especially all of the 
animals, and gave the movie ****.  She found it funny and true, giving the 
example of a humorous back-cracking incident.  But, hands-down, her favorite 
on-going joke, as was Jeffrey's, came when someone would say "Squirrel!", 
which would put the dogs into an uncontrollable frenzy, just like the word 
does Yasmin's dog Nala.

The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 29, 2009.  In 
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Cinemark 
theaters and the Camera Cinemas.

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