Looking "Up"

Jim Farmer — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:51:38 -0700

Have you seen “Up” yet? I just came back from my second viewing and just in case you are wondering if all the glowing reviews you’ve been hearing are true, well, the answer is an unequivocal yes. This film works is enjoyable on so many levels, it is sure to become a Disney/Pixar classic.

What struck be watching this movie the second time around are the many layers present in this movie. It’s an adventure movie that (mini spoiler alert ahead) touches on themes of life, death, loneliness, companionship, abandonment, greed, friendship, perspective, and priorities. Not bad for a film that features talking dogs!

As I’m sure you already know, the movie centers on what adventures occur when an elderly Carl Frederickson attaches thousands of balloons to his home and floats off into the sky. With an unexpected stowaway on board - precocious “Wilderness Explorer” Russell - the unlikely pair head out for parts unknown in South America. (One last spoiler alert ahead, and I promise this is the last one!) During the majority of the film, Carl and Russell end up trekking through the jungle with Carl’s house, still elevated by a multitude of balloons, attached to their backs. In more ways then one, the house acts as a reverse anchor for Carl and Russell.

This really got me thinking - what anchors am I carrying around on my back? What’s that one dream or expectation I’m not quite ready to let go of yet? We’re often told as children how important it is to hold on to our dreams - and to a degree, that is absolutely true. But what about when we cling so tightly to those dreams we miss the other opportunities cropping up around us?

I’ve held on to a pretty specific career path for the last fifteen years or so. However, over the last few years I’ve started to recognize that by holding so closely to a specific plan, I may have missed out on other opportunities God has planned for me. It’s not to say that my plan isn’t good - it’s just that His may be better. I’ve been doing a slow work over the last few years to cultivate a broader scope in my life and already it’s led to a slew of things I never thought I’d do - from working on an independent movie to mentoring foster kids!

Are you someone who believes “you can achieve anything you want if you believe in yourself, set clear goals, and work hard”? Or do you believe “you can achieve many things if you prepare for opportunity, see it, and act on it?”

It took Carl Henderickson a lifetime and a journey of a lifetime to South America to understand the difference. It took me a painful divorce to recognize this truth. What goals need shaking up in your life so you can be free to go out and have a new adventure?

The Balloonatic

natebell — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:11:42 -0700

And so we have the first grand film of 2009. I use the word “grand” because the reviewer’s usual fallback, “great,” is tossed around so carelessly these days as to lose all meaning. Up is no masterpiece, but it provides what most moviegoers secretly want: an unabashedly emotional experience. The high point hits early and lasts about five minutes. It comes in the form of a flowing montage of moments in the marriage of a pixie-ish redheaded girl named Ellie and a diffident, square-faced balloon seller named Carl Fredrickson, who will become the hero of the story. Set to a shamelessly heart-tugging Michael Giacchino score, it lands an emotional blow akin to an Acme-sized anvil drop. Movies are in a unique position to do this sort of thing, to compress and distill, “turning the accomplishment of many years into an hourglass,” to quote an obscure English playwright. It’s refreshing to see a mainstream movie—a family movie—step back and consider the long view of life.

After its knockout prologue, Up transitions into the whimsical flight of Carl to South America in a house carried by a multitude of vibrantly colored balloons. By taking this journey, he’s keeping a promise to his wife, who always longed for adventure but never could seem to break free from life’s vagaries. (Echoes of It’s a Wonderful Life resonate throughout.) Shortly after takeoff, Carl becomes involved with a plump boy scout (adorably voiced by Jordan Nagai) who has snuck aboard, a smooth-plumed bird on the endangered species list, a goodhearted and deeply conflicted dog (another of Pixar’s plushy triumphs), and, in a rich portrayal by Christopher Plummer, a forgotten explorer shriveled by age and corruption into a villain.

I would have been perfectly content to stay with Carl and his stowaway in the floating house for the full 90 minutes, but, in meeting the needs of a conventional narrative, director Pete Docter and co-director and screenwriter Bob Peterson allow the film to progress in a more mechanical, predictable, and, well, unadventurous manner. I guess I have to admit that I wanted something a little more daring and a little less commercially viable. But look at the wealth of imagination that’s left: an army of obedient attack dogs all speaking in unison through a mechanical device that allows their thoughts to be bluntly translated; the spacious interior of an art deco zeppelin replete with museum and dining hall; a mid-air battle sequence that culminates in one of the most beautifully ironic death scenes in recent cinema (I won’t spoil it by going into particulars, but you’ll know it when you see it); several opportune jokes both visual and verbal. And then there’s the touching conclusion that fulfills the promise of the early scenes and affirms that marriage is in fact the greatest adventure of all. Pixar may be accused of sentimentality, but sentimentality with the artistic scruples to back it up becomes something entirely different. It becomes sublime.