Looking At The Upside

Good day my friends hope you have been doing well. You know I always say that when I start writing one of my reviews here! The reason for that is just my general hope that you are having a good day and because I know and I think we all know that everyone of us has days where we feel like the world is against us. Today here in Canada is a day especially designated for mental health. Today is Bell Let’s talk Day. A day to show that if you are suffering from depression or anxiety that it is okay to talk about it! And believe me it is okay to talk about it! There have been many people in this world that have taken their own lives that suffer from depression and anxiety. They live in their own heads thinking they are not good enough, that they are being constantly judged. They avoid confrontation and try to stick with what is familiar as unfamiliar people and situations cause them great stress. A lot of the time they hide their illness under a mask of humour. Robin Williams for example suffered from mental health issues. This is my truth I myself suffer from anxiety. I often avoid confrontational situations fearing the outcome. It has kept me at times from taking advantage of opportunities and relationships. And my anxiety has led to me feeling down at times. But in truth I have pushed myself to try harder and have done some things I never thought I could have and wanted to do. But luckily had had good friends to talk to about it with and encourage my friends to talk to me too if they need to! We all need that in our lives. And we often forget it thinking we can do things on our own all the time. Or that we will be judged for our troubles or ashamed to talk about it. But don’t be! Talk! Call up a friend! And don’t worry that you are disturbing them! A true friend will listen and there are also help lines to phone as well! Okay! There are my little words of wisdom, but these are wise words and thank you for reading them! Now to the movie review! And what movie are we looking at this week? Well the answer to that is plain and simple! The movie we are looking at this week is the drama/comedy The Upside which stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) as Phillip Lacasse, Kevin Hart(Jumanji:Welcome To The Jungle) as Dell Scott and Nicole Kidman(Aquaman) as Yvonne Pendleton. Let’s take a look and see if The Upside lifts us up or brings us down.

Phillip (Cranston) is one of the wealthiest men in New York. He lives in a beautiful and spacious penthouse apartment filled with various expensive pieces of artwork and rare signed first edition books given to him by his late wife. He made a career as an investor in failing companies and rebuilding them and also as an author. But ever since a tragic paragliding accident which left him a quadriplegic he is confined to a wheelchair missing his late wife and wanting to die even having a do not resuscitate order should he stop breathing. His loyal friend and personal assistant Yvonne (Kidman) has,been caring for him since the accident and under the request of Phillip has been tasked with finding someone to do the job of taking care of Phillip. Enter Dell (Hart) an African American parolee trying to reconnect with his estranged wife and son and who needs to find a job or show he has been looking for a job or get sent back to prison. Dell has no ambition to work at any of the jobs he was given to apply to by his parole officer but has to get 3 signatures showing he tried. As fate would have it one of the jobs is for Phillip but as a janitor. Waiting behind all other candidates for the personal care giver and needing to pick up his son Dell interrupts an interview and impresses Phillip and is offered the job as his personal caregiver to which Dell accepts to help his family and show he is not a lazy bum or screwup. Dell has trouble at first adjusting to a job he knows nothing about but quickly adapts. What begins as a professional relationship soon develops into a lifelong friendship that changes the lives of both men.

Now I only gave you enough to wet your whistle here! There is more to the plot of this movie, but I didn’t want to give it all away to you! Now I must ask you the question.... Does it sound like a good movie? Yes? No? Well, let me answer that question for you all. This movie had a great story and from what I understand is a remake of a French film. It was a little slow to start but quickly picked up and grabbed ahold of you. It was both touching and funny. The reviews given previously to it don’t do it justice. This movie had some great performances by Cranston and Hart who had a great chemistry along with a pretty decent performance by Nicole Kidman. Kevin Hart did a pretty good job here in his foray into a more serious role. All in all a pretty good movie with the message of the value of life and how the right relationships can change it for the better. That is why I am giving The Upside a 7.0 on the Justin Scale Of Movies and putting it on my Pick-It List of movies to see in the theatre. That is a wrap here on my end my friends. Until next time remember to keep the popcorn freshly popped and to save me a good seat because I will be seeing you again at the movies.