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ABOVE AND BEYOND

Up: Voices of Ed Asner, Delory Lindo, Christopher Plummer (96 min.)

            Last year, Pixar films, Wall-E, was much debated as a possible Best Picture contender, and while it did miss out on that nomination, it took home the Best Animated Feature award by a wide margin.  It seems that every year, Pixar films have grown heavier and heavier on the lips of those who choose to debate on that year’s best pictures, and which one of those films deserve that coveted nomination.  This year should be no different, and perhaps could be the breakthrough to the Best Picture category Pixar has been looking for, as Up is absolutely the finest movie that has been released thus far in 2009.

            It feels strange to say that about an animated feature, especially since I found Wall-E rather underwhelming, despite the critical acclaim.  And The Incredibles never thrilled me the way it did most.  But Up, in every way that I could imagine, was the most complete, fulfilling movie-going experience I have had all year.    

            The film focuses on Carl Fredriksen, voiced by the indelible Ed Asner, a character we meet as a young boy who dreams of adventure and exploration.  Carl meets and falls in love with Ellie, a young girl whose adventurous spirit matches his perfectly.  The two fall in love, marry, and live their life happily together, only to have Ellie pass away before Carl, all of this in an opening montage that is both informative and completely heartbreaking.  And now, Carl is alone in the house that Ellie and he lived their lives together, a house that is being surrounded by industry.  Carl is being forced out of his home by cold construction workers and progressive businessmen in sleek black suits.  Carl is bitter, he is alone, and he misses Ellie. 

            Refusing to give in and move into a retirement community, Carl – who spent his life as a balloon salesman at the local zoo – decides to tie what seem like millions of balloons to his home and fly away into the air, his destination being a waterfall in South America where he and Ellie vowed to live one day.  But as his house detaches from the ground and lifts into the air he soon discovers he is not alone.  A young “wilderness explorer” Russell, was on his porch and is now along for the ride.  As you can imagine, the two get off to a rough start, only to both grow as the story unfolds.  Russell never had that “father figure” all young boys need in their life, though he finds it in elderly Carl as the story moves along and the danger and excitement heighten.

            This aforementioned story involves a mythical bird, a dastardly explorer Carl idolized as a youth, as well as a slew of dogs, all of whom belong to said explorer, and all of whom have electronic collars that convey their thoughts into human speech.  Some of the funniest moments in the picture come from these dogs, as I had to take off my 3-D glasses to wipe away tears of laughter when the leader of the “pack” first speaks.  Aside form the great comedic lines and situations, there is a heart and soul flowing beneath Up that is even stronger than any Pixar film that came before it.

            The magic of this film, more than anything, is the way it made me feel as an adult.  I found myself whisked away by the look and the adventure in the film, practically smiling the entire time; other times in laughter so intense I had to stop to catch my breath.  But at the same time, I also was aware of the larger themes permeating the story, themes that may have passed over the heads of the younger kids, but themes that I feel could get to those children above six or seven.  Ideas about youth, mortality, the importance of the small things in life, even infertility; all of these things are touched on throughout the story, but there is also great sentimentality followed by perfect humor, none of which seems forced or contrived to get a laugh out of the youngest viewers.  There are no fart jokes in Up.  Yet, those youngest ones still laughed in the theater.  I felt like I was watching an animated classic, feeling like a child, but with all of the world knowledge I have as an adult, thus allowing me to absorb every detail that directors Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson put into the story.

            I can fairly say Up has crossed that boundary that Pixar films have never been able to cross.  For me anyway.  That boundary is the one that separates animated films from live action, the boundary that essentially keeps animated films from being nominated for Best Picture.  Not this time, though.  Up is a triumph on any and every level you wish to place it on, and a flawless animated film that deserves its spot atop the list of the best at the end of the year

A+

A SHOT OF HILARITY

The Hangover: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakis (100 min.)

            The Hangover is a brilliant premise that has been put in the qualified hands of director Todd Phillips, whose previous films of note (Old School and Road Trip) have blended the perfect dose of comic timing and mounting absurdity, just a bit on the zanier side of Apatow-ville.  This time around, Phillips is given more ammunition than his previous films combined, and has created a picture that builds and builds on ridiculous, insane comedy, and though it has no place to go in the end, the ride was really why we came along in the first place.

            The story, simply enough, revolves around four friends on their way to a bachelor party (as one is to be married in a few days) in Vegas.  After a brief set up that involves shots of Jaegermeister on the roof of Caesar’s Palace (never a good start if you ask me), the four friends hit the town, and wake up as only as three friends, with the all-important groom missing in action.  But that, it appears, is the least important, or the least confusing of their problems.  Their plush penthouse villa is littered with empty booze, a chicken that is never explained, smoking furniture, blow-up dolls, a tiger, and an infant sleeping in a closet.  This is merely a glimpse at the room the morning after.  It had to have been a complete blast to decorate the set this day, and it almost takes a second glance to absorb the insanity of the room.

            The three partiers are, of course, types cast in opposition to each other, and the audience is the fourth one waking up alongside them, trying to put together the pieces of the evening and find Doug, the groom (Justin Bartha) right along with them.  The leader of the group – more so by default than any sort of inclination of actual leadership skills – is Phil, played by Bradley Cooper, a teacher who claims to hate his life and steals from his students.  Ed Helms plays Stu, the mild-mannered dentist with a fascist girlfriend, who also happens to wake up this morning after with a missing tooth.  Helms is spot on, though his funniest moment are his dazed expressions the morning of discovery.  And then there is Alan, played with a hilarious, borderline creepy, idiocy by Zack Galifianakis.  Alan is a stumpy, bearded dolt, the brother-in-law to be, and he is perfect at delivering those confusing, uncomfortable, yet sometimes poignant comedic lines as the trio try and become a quartet in time for the wedding. 

            It’s tough to get into detail about The Hangover without giving away anything.  I will say that a wedding chapel, a stolen police cruiser, Mike Tyson, and an angry Asian gangster (easily the weakest part of the film) are all involved.  With a film like this, it isn’t really important to get into aesthetics, the way the camera is used, or the character development.  What are important is how the jokes hit, how the comedy is layered, and how the absurdity continues to grow and grow.  For the most part, the comedy is excellent, though there are a few spots that miss the mark.  These spots are soon dispatched by a hilarious set piece or a situation even more absurd than the last. 

            The three central characters are believable as friends, and perhaps what makes them so endearing is their – to coin an overused term –  “everyman” feel.  These guys aren’t the smooth characters headed to Vegas that you see so often in “Vegas movies.”  They aren’t trying to write their own chapter of Vegas legend so to speak.  These characters feel like every other group of thirty-year old dudes who have seen the same Vegas flicks you and I have seen and head to Sin City because that’s what they’re supposed to do.

Although the third act of the film stumbles toward the finish line, it’s forgivable given all of the laughs that were packed into the first two acts.  And the credits are no time to head to the door, as perhaps the most hilarious moments lie in the pictures that accompany said credits.  Phillips has created his most solid, most ludicrously hilarious film to date.  It’s Road Trip and Old School mixed together, taken to the next level, soaked with even more booze, and dumped into Vegas. 

B+