Sempre amici

So, the movie-going audience for this film will divide into two categories: those that have seen the original 2011 French classic "The Intouchables" that this is based on, and those that haven't. "The Intouchables" would have got 10* from me, no problem.

This movie joins a list of standout European movies - for example, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"; "Let The Right One In"; "Sleepless Night"; etc. - that have had Hollywood "makeovers" that don't match up to the originals. And this is no exception. However, it's still been well made and deserves respect as a standalone piece of movie-making.

Based on a true story, Phillip Lacasse (Bryan Cranston) is left both paraplegic and widowed by a string of bad luck. Not that money can buy you everything, but his care arrangements are substantially helped by him being a multi-millionaire ("Not rich enough to buy The Yankees; Rich enough to buy The Mets"). This is from success in investments and writing about such investments.

Depressed, cranky and with a "DNR" that his diligent PA Yvonne (Nicole Kidman) seems unable to comply with, Phillip lashes out at anyone and everyone and so dispatches his carers with monotonous regularity. Dell Scott (Kevin Hart) is on parole, with the requirement to seek work. Due to a mix-up, he finds himself in the employ of Phillip: with the suspicion that he's been hired because he is the very worst candidate imaginable, and thus the most likely to let Phillip shuffle off this mortal coil. But the two men's antipathy to each other slowly thaws as they teach each other new tricks.

Those who have seen "The Intouchables" will fondly remember the first 5 minutes of that film: a flash-forward to a manic police car-chase featuring our protagonists (there played by François Cluzet and Omar Sy). It drops like a comedy hand-grenade to open the film. Unfortunately, you can't help but feel a bit let down by the same re-creation in "The Upside". It has all the same content but none of the heart.

After that rocky start, the film continues to rather stutter along. Part of the reason for this I think is Kevin Hart. It's not that he's particularly bad in the role: it's just that he IS Kevin Hart, and I was constantly thinking "there's that comedian playing that role".

However, once the story gets into its swing, giving Cranston more of a chance to shine (which he does), then the film started to motor and my reservations about Hart started to wane. Some of these story set pieces - such as the one about the art work - are punch-the-air funny in their own right. Cranston's timing in delivering his punchlines is immaculate.

There seems to have been some furore about the casting of Bryan Cranston as the role of the disabled millionaire instead of a disabled actor. Lord save us! He's an actor! That's what actors do for a living: pretend to be people they're not! It's also worth pointing out that François Cluzet was an able-bodied actor as well.

As already mentioned, Bryan Cranston excels in the role. Phillip goes through such a wide range of emotions from despair to pure joy and back again that you can't help but be impressed by the performance.

On the female side of the cast, it's really nice to see Nicole Kidman in such a quiet and understated role and it's nicely done; Aja Naomi King does a nice job as Dell's protective ex-girlfriend Latrice; and there's a nice female cameo as well, which I won't spoil since I wasn't expecting to see her in the film.

As a standalone film it has some laugh-out-loud moments, some feelgood highs and some moments of real pathos. The audience I saw this with was small, but there was still a buzz in the room and sporadic applause as the end titles came up: God only knows that's unusual for a film! The director is "Limitless" and "Divergent" director Neil Burger, and it's a perfectly fun and innocent night out at the flicks that I commend to the house in this month of celluloid awards heavyweights.

(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies on the web or Facebook. Thanks).

"Some people are walking around with full use of their bodies and they're more paralyzed than I am." Christopher Reeve

The Upside is a potentially sappy setup adapted from the highly-successful French film Les Intouchables. Dell (Kevin Hart) is a black ex-con in need of work. Phillip (Bryan Cranston) is a wealthy author and investor become quadriplegic from a foolish paragliding incident who needs help.

In the film's unavoidable cliché, black man becomes white man's assistant, and the two bond through their differences. While sharing with each other Figaro and Aretha, they become happy buds who easily bridge the considerable racial and economic gulfs.

What makes this comedy work is the obvious respect between the leads and a sincerity about the need to appropriate other cultures for the bounty they offer in different perspectives and temperaments. Hart has never been better playing a smart street guy from The Bronx; Cranston is magnetic with the simple use of his face, a great one that deserves all the closeups director Neil Burger can offer.

Although the stereotypical differences between the two characters could have led to outrageous melodrama, as in the recent Green Book, the filmmakers are more interested in the reality of a rich man being moved by an ex-con, and an underprivileged underachiever finding dignity and prosperity in a world never meant to be his.

The lyrical moments like getting high on weed and watching opera for the first time earn our admiration rather than scorn for formula worshiping. As always, the leads take the lead in taking us to realistic challenges that race and wealth usually move us to whether we are ready or not.

Don't be afraid of stereotypes and clichés. The setups are acceptable because the film sees the humanity rolling on the screen in the form of a wheelchair and into our hearts with endearing characters. Be prepared to have a few pleasant tears during 2019's best comedy so far!

I virtually never write a review on IMDb but I have to say something... I'm not sure what's up with negative reviews. Even if you liked the original better, don't be stupid and use that as an excuse to pan this movie. I've never seen the original so I'm not biased. This was a good movie!!

Yikes -- people giving this a 1 rating, sight unseen, so they can boast that they saw the French original? Excusez moi, gimme a break. You claim to be a movie buff but sabotage and distort the public ratings system? Did you give The Departed or Insomnia a 1 rating too because they are remakes? Did you skip Sorcerer because The Wages of Fear is on your Criterion shelf? I like the original Intouchables a lot, and this American remake, with much of the same material, has similar impact for a wider audience.

Remakes happen, as well as re-imaginings. However they make sense when a director/writer have something more to add to the story, especially as beautiful as this one in a French original. Here we got a back to back copy of a quite recent movie. A movie, that was a huge international hit, and is well known outside of the USA, so a so recent remakwe, ekhm, copy, is the more baffling. This is not the case of The Lion King, which was inspired by an obscure Japanese cartoon, and a wider audience got a chance to known the story. THe original made over 400 millions of dollars worldwide... Are Americans so afraid of subtitles, that they have to make their own versions of movies?