A Family Upside Down

In many ways, "A Family Upside Down" reminds me of the great but super-depressing film "Make Way for Tomorrow". It's a brutal and honest look at aging...and it's certainly NOT a movie to watch if you are seriously depressed. Regardless, it's a film that you should watch with some Kleenex nearby...you may well need them.

Emma and Ted Long (Helen Hays and Fred Astaire) are an elderly couple. However, Ted's health has taken a recent turn for the worse. Following a heart attack, he's unable to do many of the things he loves and refuses to change his lifestyle. His attitude is that if he does, he may as well be dead...something I can definitely understand. This also brings on many challenges...especially when the couple becomes separated and Ted is forced to go into nursing care. How they as well as their families deal with it is what make this film interesting...as well as brutal to watch.

The two best things about this movie are the casting of Hays and Astaire as well as how it faces these end of life decisions honestly...something you rarely see in films or television. In general, you don't see a lot of older people in the media or if you do their problems are often sanitized. This one, however, really makes you think...especially about the quality of life versus the quantity.

I was flipping through the channels one day, and found this film on TV. I was surprised at how good it actually was. Fred Astaire and Helen Hayes were great. He could still act (Too bad he couldn't dance). I believe it accurately shows what happens when people get older. Also it shows the effect it has on the family around them. I'd recommend it to anyone.