SKY HIGH AND HEARTFELT: a review of "Up"

Originally written May 29, 2009

"Up" Directed by Pete Doctor
***1/2 (three and a half stars)

A few years ago, a very close friend of mine and I were having a discussion about the current state of children's entertainment and movies in particular. She has a lovely young daughter, still under 10 and I, as you know, have no children of my own. She fretted about the quality (or lack thereof) in the movies they were able to see together but conceded to me, "Not everything can be 'Finding Nemo'." With that, I replied to her, "That's true. But, everything should aspire to be 'Finding Nemo'."

I have just returned home from a screening of Pixar's lush and beautiful new film "Up," (directed by Pete Doctor who helmed Pixar's "Monsters Inc.") where before the main event, I was subjected to a trough of trailers for upcoming movies aimed at young audiences and families and it was a disheartening sight. Could the filmmakers behind the upcoming "G-Force" for instance (and no, it is not a new version of the classic Japanese animated "Battle Of The Planets" for you endless-hours-of-TV-watchers out there--it's much, much worse) honestly feel that they are making something GOOD?! And worse yet, were they even trying? Thankfully, we do have the creative team behind Pixar who have consistently pushed themselves as well as their audiences by making movies that have transcended "children's entertainment" by, at the very least, swinging for the fences in their attempts to create films for the ages. "Up" has easily earned a spot as something to treasure.

Our story begins with Carl, a timid youngster with a healthy imagination and thirst for adventure. We meet Carl sitting in a movie theater enthralled by the world travels of renowned explorer Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer) who has endlessly searched for a mysterious and believed to be mythical bird. Once Muntz is disgraced, he takes to his zeppelin and vows to not return until the bird is found. While acting out his Muntz inspired fantasies, Carl then meets his soulmate, an excitable girl named Ellie, who vows to voyage to Paradise Falls in the South Pacific to live by a waterfall when she grows up. From here, the film flows into a lovely sequence that equals the nearly wordless opening act of last year's "Wall-E" in style, tenderness, complexity, and a healthy dose of mature sorrow as we witness the lifetime romance of Carl and Ellie, two dreamers, in the very house in which they met as children.

When we next meet Carl (voiced by Ed Asner), he is of advanced age, wrapped in endless mourning for Ellie as well as youthful dreams deferred, and essentially shut inside of his precious home despite the changing of the outside world around him, including the complete industrialization of his old, quiet and quaint neighborhood. When threatened with living out his remaining days in a retirement village, Carl takes to the skies in his beloved home improbably suspended with a sea of balloons, determined to live his life by the waterfall in Paradise Falls. Unbeknownst to him is a stowaway, a chatty little fellow named Russell, a literal Boy Scout, who is eager to assist and please the cantankerous Carl on his quest.

I won't say more about any specifics but what follows is the definition of delight. "Up" is light footed, consistently inventive, very funny, and the level of playful imagination reminded me fondly of some of Director Terry Gilliam's flights of fancy over the years. But, what makes "Up" stick firmly is a curious balancing act that I am not certain how they pulled off: the balance between having a story that is lighter than air--much like the house carried by the balloons--with mature themes that make this film quite possibly Pixar's most poignant film to date. It is one of those Pixar gambles that pays off so handsomely.

First of all, we have a film, in our youth obsessed culture, that features not one but TWO cranky elderly men, neither of them wanting to be young again (i.e. "Cocoon") and both of whom have very distinct and profound reasons for their anger and hurts. One of them even delivers an act of quite surprising cruelty that I literally gasped. The pain is lived in and presented honestly. Even the problems of young Russell are valid symptoms of our accelerated culture and his insight into what makes him truly happy are touching indeed.

Secondly, I can think of three points during this brisk film (this is reportedly Pixar's shortest feature and not one minute of it is wasted) where tears spontaneously shot from my eyes. When the film goes straight for the heart, it gets you! The life lessons it presented to its characters as well as the audience never feel like corn-pone homilies. "Up" asks of Carl, Russell and Muntz what makes a life worth living, what really is an adventure, how do we deal with life's disappointments including the consequences of roads not taken as well as the deaths of loved ones and how do those personal tragedies inform our futures.

I completely understand that many people out there would possibly prefer to check their brains at the door and just be pleased with the pretty colors, jaunty soundtrack and a slew of pop-culture jokes and not take on anything emotionally weightier. (Believe me, I understand...my movie criteria goes out of the window when watching one of the "Rush Hour" movies for instance.) But, when something like "Up" comes along, I cannot help but to embrace it. I never feel as if the folks at Pixar are condescending to their audience (especially children) or are just out to make a product that can be sold and experienced only as a product. I applaud them for thinking outside of the "children's entertainment box" and pursuing stories that they seemingly would want to see themselves. The sophisticated artistry of "Ratatouille," and the future dystopia of "Wall-E," may not be a child's typical cup of tea but these are films they can grow with and not dispose of after one or two viewings. That very desire and care, obviously on display in Pixar feature after Pixar feature, is what I was getting at in that aforementioned discussion with my friend.

Making any film a successful one is hard work and in many cases, the stars need to be aligned in the right way. As with all art, our responses to them are our own and I can understand also if people happen to not respond to Pixar movies in a positive way. What I object to most are people in a creative field actively and knowingly creating garbage, selling it as garbage and not caring that they just created garbage and will happily take our hard earned money for it. With "Up," there are no such worries here and once it concluded, my heart felt as lifted as Carl's house, whose history and features are as fully developed as the walking, talking characters. Once the doors of school are let out for the summer, I happily recommend this feature to you.

(SIDE NOTE: With such a rave, why not four stars? Well...I just simply like a few Pixar movies even more than this one with "Ratatouille" and "The Incredibles" as my favorites.)