Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The Upside

As my first film of 2019, The Upside is a good and enjoyable film to start of the last year of the 2010 decade. Bryan Cranston stars as a paralyzed billionaire getting assistance from a recent paroled convict played by Kevin Hart. The film is based on a true story about a French businessman who suffered the same results after a paragliding contest and has been told three other times in France, India, and Argentina. While the story of The Upside is based on a true story, the way the film tells it can feel very cliche and you know what events are going to happen because of previous stories similar to this one. But even then, you can still appreciate the cliche because it is well told, funny, and can inspire at times. The film's strongest aspect is not only the performances by everyone involved, but especially the chemistry between Cranston and Hart that keeps you the most interested. While I can agree that casting an actually paralyzed person would have been better than Bryan Cranston, it's hard to argue that Cranston does a believable enough job that shows just how dedicated he is to his roles. Though there are several moments that feel far fetched, especially a few decisions that the characters make, they're relatively small and a few do get brought up. An aspect that I find odd and can distract sometimes is that a lot of scenes tend to end with a fade to black, but that's a small thing. Over all: 91%
2019 top list so far:
1. The Upside

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