Sempre amici

As someone who has seen and loved the original French film, this US remake feels rather pointless. Although both Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston are good in their roles, they never reach the heights nor have the chemistry François Cluzet and Omar Sy.

Based on the French film Intouchables, The Upside follows the relationship between a man with quadriplegia, played by Cranston and his ex-con carer, played by Hart.

While the film itself is solid, it feels redundant after watching the original. It sticks very closely to the events of the French movie, bringing nothing new to the table. The opening scene made me groan, as it is essentially a shot-for-shot remake of the opening of Intouchables. And while there are differences in the backstory of Hart's character, it is not enough to warrant a new incarnation of this story.

That said, I was impressed by Kevin Hart's performance in this film and would go so far as to say that this is his best performance to date. While he is still funny, he is more reigned in here, more grounded than his usual loud and broadly comedic turns.

In the end, I'd struggle to recommend this to anyone who has already seen the French film, although Hart's more low-key performance is worth a watch for fans of his.

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!!

I'm so thankful to Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, Neil Burger and the rest of those involved in this remake! Movies entertain us but they are even better when they can educate, entertain, and make us laugh at the same time. There have been no movies with big celebrity actors showing that a quadriplegic can actually live a regular life and have happiness. There were 2 big movies that came out and the quadriplegic chose suicide at the end. Instead of being looked at like a regular person, we are looked at with pity. Yes our life is hard! It's not easy being completely dependent on others for everything! It's been 22 years and I don't have millions of dollars or a fully accessible house or a nice "patty wagon" like Bryan's character had in the movie but I have God and family and friends and I live a good life! I still got a bachelors degree and I still found love and I was able to be a mother! We have fun and choose to laugh ALOT despite our circumstances. I hope everybody learns something from this movie! #TheUpside #stillstandingalwayssmiling

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?