Sunday, September 10, 2017

TIFF 2017: The Upside


My first film of this year's festival was The Upside starring Bryan Cranston as Phil, a very rich quadriplegic in need of a new caregiver, though he doesn't much want to live any more. Kevin Hart plays Dell, a troubled parolee who needs to gather signatures to prove he is really out looking for work. He accidentally becomes a candidate for the caregiver job he is utterly unqualified for, and Phil hires him, thinking he'll likely screw up and kill him. Nicole Kidman plays Yvonne, Phil's dedicated business assistant who obviously cares for him more deeply.

As Dell starts to understand what his job really entails, and as he and Phil get to know each other, they each heal the other. Phil finds reasons why live is still worth living and enjoying, and Dell finally figures out how to take care of, and how to care about, someone else, and that filters through to the other parts of his troubled life. There is plenty of comedy (not necessarily the kind one would expect from Hart) and lots of emotion (I had a good cry to kick off the festival). We laugh at the pretentiousness of the rich and we get a peek at how the disabled can be invisible, and uncomfortable for others to really face.

A big thumbs up; highly recommended!

TIFF 2017 Overview

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