Like all Pixar stories, this movie is really two movies, one that has a real heart with solid character development, combined with a rousing adventure tale for the kids.
The rousing adventure part of the tale - an old man lifting his house off on balloons and flying to South America, and then saving this rare giant bird and battling a pack of talking dogs along the way - was a bit over the top, although young children may enjoy this part of the movie.
What made this movie special, for adults, like almost all Pixar movies, was the care shown in fleshing out the two main characters - the old man, Carl, and the over-eager boy scout Russell.
Carl is not just a grumpy old man with a wild dream - in the opening sequence, which is heartbreaking to watch, we see how Carl first meets his childhood sweetheart, Ellie. We see them get married, suffer through the inability to have children, and then grow old together in bliss until she dies one day. We see how from the very beginning as children they shared a fascination for this South American adventurer Charles Muntz, and how they perpetually planned for, but had to put off their plans to visit the fabled Paradise Falls that Muntz had explored. When she dies and he faces eviction from the house they had always lived together, he sets off determinedly for Paradise Falls.
Russell too has his back story - he misses his father, who used to do simple things with him like sit by the street and count blue cars together, but now his father doesn't have time for him. It is when Carl asks him why, that the movie strongly hints that Russell's parents are divorced and his dad is now with another woman named Phyllis. At the end of the movie, Russell's father is still not there for him, despite having promised (only his mother shows up at the boy scout ceremony), but Carl is there for him instead.
The movie ends in heartwarming Pixar fashion - through her old scrapbook, Ellie has left a message for Carl to start a new adventure - and he does, and we see Carl take on his new role as surrogate father for Russell, and we also see that his old house has miraculously landed right next to Paradise Falls, just like in the old painting that Ellie had done years ago over their fireplace mantel.
The movie has sad and funny moments and is one that the whole family can enjoy together. It continues Pixar's fine tradition of going beyond mere movie formula to explore the nuances of human relationships and emotion. Get more detail about Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray].
No comments:
Post a Comment