UP (2009)

* * * *
G C-96m. USA
D: Pete Dokter. Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer

The poster is great – the incongruous sight of a scowling old guy with a nose like a Muppet holding a balloon still cracks me up. The promotional trailers showed just enough to intrigue – a grouchy old man somehow launches his house into the air with hundreds of colourful helium balloons.

“So long, boys!” he crows, blowing a raspberry at his would-be captors. He has escaped, and settles into his armchair with a sigh of relief.

Then there’s a knock on the door.

A chubby little boy in a scout-like uniform is frantically clinging to the porch wall for dear life. “Hi, Mr. Fredrickson. Please let me in!”

The old codger considers the request, then decides. “No.” Slams the door.

A moment later, the door opens again. “Oh, all right!”

The terrified kid dashes inside.

Carl Fredrickson (Ed Asner, who practically invented the curmudgeon in his iconic role of grumpy editor Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show) is the unlikely hero of this story. We first meet him as a squat, pug-faced (but kinda cute) little boy in a helmet and goggles as he raptly gazes at the newsreel starring his hero Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer of The Sound of Music) – an explorer who mysteriously disappears soon afterward. He is the fragile link between two very different kids who discover that they have more in common than a shared hero worship.

Through a sweet montage, Little Carl meets the love of his life, a gap-toothed little girl named Ellie, whose imagination and zest for adventure is the catalyst of this tale. She’s a talkative little dynamo, the yin to Carl’s yang. There is a beautiful and heartbreaking sequence that takes the pair through decades of a truly wonderful life. Even the simple act of collecting the mail has meaning. If you ever wonder about the old widower (or widow) next door who wanders around lost and mutters to someone you can’t see, perhaps they had an extraordinary marriage like Carl and Ellie. Hell, even I wanted to marry Carl. In fact, this particular sequence reminded me of another happy marriage set in a similar time (though cut short by tragedy). See Monster House. No review here, but just rent the darned thing. It’s awesome.

But life happens, and Carl has to carry on alone. The happy home is like an extinguished candle. He’s aimless, depressed, and through one misunderstood (but totally understandable) act, is sentenced to losing his house and living in a nursing home with others like him, all waiting for visitors, waiting for death.

But Carl Fredrickson is one wily old guy. He was a balloon salesman in his younger days, and still has the equipment… which leads to a daring escape from two orderlies from the nursing home. Then he discovers that he has a stowaway.

This is one of the best animated adventure films I’ve seen. We take a wonderful, harrowing trip to South America and see foliage, animals, and temples that have obviously been lovingly researched and animated for this movie.

Up is driven by character, not events. Neither of the main older characters is the least bit grandfatherly – they don’t sit around in rocking chairs hollering, “Get off my lawn” and complaining about young people today. I really appreciate the fact these seniors aren’t resigned to passing the torch to the younger generation. They are just as complex, flawed, angry, loving, ambitious, and greedy as anyone. Not everyone mellows with age. Carl’s personality may have been soured by grief, but he is not a bad person. He’s snarky, entertains disturbing (but funny!) fantasies how to get rid of a certain annoying guest, and has inventive ways to using his walker and dentures. I love this guy.

On the other hand, I fully believe that if someone is a nasty jerk in their old age, they were likely a nasty jerk in their youth. Just because they’re slower, more wrinkled, and look like someone’s kindly old grandfather doesn’t mean that they can’t be evil. Bob Dylan once said, “Never trust anyone over thirty.” Boy, if he only knew…

Back to Carl: His actions make sense – not because a cyclone uprooted his house and set it down in a magical land populated by Munchkins and talking trees – but because of his former occupation as a balloon salesman and a life touched by a very special woman. This is truly about a dream shared by two people and how far one of them is willing to go to make it a reality, even without his soul mate. But even when Carl addresses his deceased wife – because we’ve met the strong-willed Ellie and briefly experienced their life together – we can almost see her too. There are no ghosts here – just effectively storytelling.

This is just the set-up. I do not want to spoil anything for you. This beautiful film celebrates life – all the small everyday pleasures, like sharing an ice cream, cloud-gazing, painting a room together, and not just yearning – but planning for adventure. It’s a buddy movie of opposites – which we’ve all seen before. It urges us, not only to appreciate small happy moments with your loved ones, but to realize that not all of life’s curveballs are bad ones, that you may not know you want something until you get it. Recognize the gift of having someone special in your life. Character-driven storytelling in a family film is rare today – but an expected staple in a Pixar movie. Pixar delivers a terrific film that is perfect for all ages. It’s emotional without being schmaltzy, and just a helluva a lot of fun. If you aren’t moved at all, you must have a shriveled raisin for a heart.

Just go and enjoy Up. It’s pure magic. And leave the curmudgeon in your life at home... unless he’s a balloon salesman.