226.
The Upside
7.5/10
When someone mentions Kevin Hart to you, you think comedy and that could be stand-up or a movie. Now link him with Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman and we have a charming remake of a real-life relationship between two of the unlikeliest of friends. Cranston is going to be playing a quadriplegic who is not short of a penny and Hart is a parolee, looking to reconnect with his estranged wife. This movie was originally a french movie called 'The Intouchables', which was a massive hit in some European movies, but as expected translating this into English means the lazy audience doesn't need to read the subtitles.
The movie begins pretty abruptly with Hart's character Dell, speeding trough Chicago with Cranston's character Philip in the passenger seat. They have a bet on that he can't lose the cops and although he does for a little while, they end up being cornered and needing to lie about Philip having a seizure and they need to get to the hospital. After an escort, they laugh off the night and head home. The little print of '6 months earlier' appears and now we are about to find out how we got to this night.
Del has recently been released from prison and is set the task of trying to find a job. The only thing he really cares about though is the signatures so he can at least prove he is trying. The last interview of the day is with Philip and his assistant Yvonne, played by Nicole Kidman. Tired of waiting, he barges into the office and demands a signature but first, must tell Philip about himself. Finding out about the jail time, Philip asks what it was for but in exchange, Del tells him that he has to have the job.
Out of nowhere and to the displeasure of Yvonne, Philip agrees but thankfully for her, Dell turns down the offer and just wants the John Hancock. Dell heads off to pick up his son, who has already been picked up by the mum, so he heads over to theirs and neither seem to happy with his appearance. The apartment is a shithole and it's the kids birthday. Dell gives his son a book as a present but it's one that he's stolen from Philip's place.
Before Dell knows what's hit him, Yvonne is on the phone to invite him back to take the job. That's how miserable Philip is that he wants the least capable person to be his caregiver. She instantly gives him three strikes but Dell needs to keep this with it being a live-in job and pays handsomely. The job starts a little rocky as he isn't too pleased that he needs to feed a grown man. The nurse comes in and gives him the run-through on how to do each daily chore. That includes the use of the catheter, which obviously brings a hilarious scene. Slowly but surely, Dell starts to adjust to everything and Philip instructs him that he has DNR rule and this is put to the test one night but Dell knowing he needs the job, forces Philip to breathe.
The first paycheck is a real eye-opener for Dell, who hands it straight to his old missis. She's obviously happy about it, that's until Del asks for the book back, instantly knowing it was stolen. He must do his own dirty work though and after finding his son talking to some stranger, he misses the chance to get the book back as some kids are messing with Philip's car and he is called by Yvonne. She gives him the third strike and Dell is only saved when Philip tells her that he gave Dell permission to take the car and see his son. This grump is coming around a little bit, as expected.
The relationship moves on as they smoke weed together, Philip admits that he is in a relationship with a lady that only involves writing to each other and Philip even reveals his past. His wife was suffering from cancer and Philip suggested going paragliding to take his wife's mind off things. This lead to his accident and the condition that he is in now. With a tear shed and Dell in need to a scheme to cheer Philip up, he suggests taking him for food and chats about some ideas he has to start a business and needing Philip's help. He evens convinces Philip to call the woman he has been writing too. Philip joins Dell in taking his son out for the day and we finally get the book back. Philip was still unaware it had been taken. The kid realises who it belongs to, gives it back to Philip and retreats back home. Philip's day gets even worse when they return home to find that Yvonne has set up a surprise birthday party. You'd have thought she would know that he hates people. Retreating to an office, Philip and Dell begin an argument as Dell starts smashing the place up and this brings Philip back down to earth. He wishes he could do the smashing and lives through Dell for a short time. This unwinds his and eventually they decide to head into the party. He even finds out that his love interest has agreed to meet him.
This doesn't go well though as she leaves their dinner as a bad memory for Philip. She didn't expect to have to do so much for him and on him trying to leave, he bumps into a couple of people and has boiling hot coffee spilled on his lap. On arrival home, he takes this all out on Dell, as he is the one who pushed him to meet her. He fires him!
Time passes and Dell has paid for a new place for his ex and child. He now has a new job working with cars and as for Philip, he's run through plenty of caregivers but his nurse has made it clear to Dell that he hasn't adjusted and communicated with any of them, even Yvonne has left him. He begs Dell to come and see him, trying to get Philip to come back around. Dell finally heads over, finding Philip hasn' had a shave in a while and takes him out, leading to the encounter that started this movie. They end up going out of town, to a place that Philip can relax and Dell ends up setting up paragliding for him, unknowingly taking part himself. On landing, Dell takes Philip to a hotel bar and sets up a meeting with Yvonne, leaving the two to catch up as he heads to spend some time with his son.
Always one to dabble with a true story, I was not disappointed. I have obviously not watched the French original but I can only imagine the story wouldn't have differed far from the true story. It has a weird charm about it from start to finish as we watched these two characters, as far on opposite sides of the spectrum as possible, bounce of each other with some great charisma and this was helped with the cast of Cranston and Hart. They certainly didn't add a blotch to their CV's by starring in this. The storyline itself showing the growth of our two main characters as both didn't realise they would be accepted in such a way and managed to not only come out of their shells but could then be happy once again when things seemed really bleak. This keeps the audience invested because although we know, as per experiences in this way, there is going to be a falling out of the two main characters and a getting back together, it was still nice to see how this came about. Mixing between humour, seriousness and even sadness, this movie takes you on a little rollercoaster for a couple of hours.
7.5/10
When someone mentions Kevin Hart to you, you think comedy and that could be stand-up or a movie. Now link him with Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman and we have a charming remake of a real-life relationship between two of the unlikeliest of friends. Cranston is going to be playing a quadriplegic who is not short of a penny and Hart is a parolee, looking to reconnect with his estranged wife. This movie was originally a french movie called 'The Intouchables', which was a massive hit in some European movies, but as expected translating this into English means the lazy audience doesn't need to read the subtitles.
The movie begins pretty abruptly with Hart's character Dell, speeding trough Chicago with Cranston's character Philip in the passenger seat. They have a bet on that he can't lose the cops and although he does for a little while, they end up being cornered and needing to lie about Philip having a seizure and they need to get to the hospital. After an escort, they laugh off the night and head home. The little print of '6 months earlier' appears and now we are about to find out how we got to this night.
Del has recently been released from prison and is set the task of trying to find a job. The only thing he really cares about though is the signatures so he can at least prove he is trying. The last interview of the day is with Philip and his assistant Yvonne, played by Nicole Kidman. Tired of waiting, he barges into the office and demands a signature but first, must tell Philip about himself. Finding out about the jail time, Philip asks what it was for but in exchange, Del tells him that he has to have the job.
Out of nowhere and to the displeasure of Yvonne, Philip agrees but thankfully for her, Dell turns down the offer and just wants the John Hancock. Dell heads off to pick up his son, who has already been picked up by the mum, so he heads over to theirs and neither seem to happy with his appearance. The apartment is a shithole and it's the kids birthday. Dell gives his son a book as a present but it's one that he's stolen from Philip's place.
Before Dell knows what's hit him, Yvonne is on the phone to invite him back to take the job. That's how miserable Philip is that he wants the least capable person to be his caregiver. She instantly gives him three strikes but Dell needs to keep this with it being a live-in job and pays handsomely. The job starts a little rocky as he isn't too pleased that he needs to feed a grown man. The nurse comes in and gives him the run-through on how to do each daily chore. That includes the use of the catheter, which obviously brings a hilarious scene. Slowly but surely, Dell starts to adjust to everything and Philip instructs him that he has DNR rule and this is put to the test one night but Dell knowing he needs the job, forces Philip to breathe.
The first paycheck is a real eye-opener for Dell, who hands it straight to his old missis. She's obviously happy about it, that's until Del asks for the book back, instantly knowing it was stolen. He must do his own dirty work though and after finding his son talking to some stranger, he misses the chance to get the book back as some kids are messing with Philip's car and he is called by Yvonne. She gives him the third strike and Dell is only saved when Philip tells her that he gave Dell permission to take the car and see his son. This grump is coming around a little bit, as expected.
The relationship moves on as they smoke weed together, Philip admits that he is in a relationship with a lady that only involves writing to each other and Philip even reveals his past. His wife was suffering from cancer and Philip suggested going paragliding to take his wife's mind off things. This lead to his accident and the condition that he is in now. With a tear shed and Dell in need to a scheme to cheer Philip up, he suggests taking him for food and chats about some ideas he has to start a business and needing Philip's help. He evens convinces Philip to call the woman he has been writing too. Philip joins Dell in taking his son out for the day and we finally get the book back. Philip was still unaware it had been taken. The kid realises who it belongs to, gives it back to Philip and retreats back home. Philip's day gets even worse when they return home to find that Yvonne has set up a surprise birthday party. You'd have thought she would know that he hates people. Retreating to an office, Philip and Dell begin an argument as Dell starts smashing the place up and this brings Philip back down to earth. He wishes he could do the smashing and lives through Dell for a short time. This unwinds his and eventually they decide to head into the party. He even finds out that his love interest has agreed to meet him.
This doesn't go well though as she leaves their dinner as a bad memory for Philip. She didn't expect to have to do so much for him and on him trying to leave, he bumps into a couple of people and has boiling hot coffee spilled on his lap. On arrival home, he takes this all out on Dell, as he is the one who pushed him to meet her. He fires him!
Time passes and Dell has paid for a new place for his ex and child. He now has a new job working with cars and as for Philip, he's run through plenty of caregivers but his nurse has made it clear to Dell that he hasn't adjusted and communicated with any of them, even Yvonne has left him. He begs Dell to come and see him, trying to get Philip to come back around. Dell finally heads over, finding Philip hasn' had a shave in a while and takes him out, leading to the encounter that started this movie. They end up going out of town, to a place that Philip can relax and Dell ends up setting up paragliding for him, unknowingly taking part himself. On landing, Dell takes Philip to a hotel bar and sets up a meeting with Yvonne, leaving the two to catch up as he heads to spend some time with his son.
Always one to dabble with a true story, I was not disappointed. I have obviously not watched the French original but I can only imagine the story wouldn't have differed far from the true story. It has a weird charm about it from start to finish as we watched these two characters, as far on opposite sides of the spectrum as possible, bounce of each other with some great charisma and this was helped with the cast of Cranston and Hart. They certainly didn't add a blotch to their CV's by starring in this. The storyline itself showing the growth of our two main characters as both didn't realise they would be accepted in such a way and managed to not only come out of their shells but could then be happy once again when things seemed really bleak. This keeps the audience invested because although we know, as per experiences in this way, there is going to be a falling out of the two main characters and a getting back together, it was still nice to see how this came about. Mixing between humour, seriousness and even sadness, this movie takes you on a little rollercoaster for a couple of hours.
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