Review - "Up" and down

A day after taking our children to see Pixar’s new movie Up, it occurred to me that they really could have called it Down. Well, except that “down” is not as positive a word as “up” and probably would not have created so much box office interest. Even so, the movie really is about being down. Consider some of the downers.

Oh, I should mention there are spoilers from here on down.

The movie opens with the little boy Carl walking with his “Spirit of Adventure” balloon, which of course is floating “up” in the air. What happens when the balloon gets stuck up on the ceiling and Carl ventures to retrieve it? He goes “down.” The balloon is lost, his arm is broken, and he marries the love of his life, Ellie.

Years later the ever-enthusiastic Ellie charges “up” a hill, Carl having a hard time keeping up. They lay on their backs and see pictures up in the clouds, including Ellie’s dream of having babies and raising a family. What happens when they go “down” the hill? Ellie is infertile. Her incredibly loving, mature, and courageous response to this sadness is one of the most profound moments later in the movie. Just in case you’re reading this before seeing it, I’m leaving out that spoiler. Suffice to say, Ellie comes down out of the clouds and lives a wonderful life.

In their old age, after never quite managing to live the adventurous life they had hoped for, Carl splurges and buys tickets for the two of them to visit “Paradise Falls” in South America. (Note: which way does a waterfall flow?) It’s called “the most beautiful place on earth.” This time Carl charges “up” the same hill where they dreamed of babies. He wants to give Ellie the tickets to the adventure on the hill where they loved to look up and dream. But this time Ellie cannot keep up. She falls and is hospitalized. The implication is that she has cancer. Ellie dies.

What of Carl’s house? For most of the movie it goes “up.” Only a few times does it even bounce on the ground. Yet there are two scenes when it reaches the ground and stays put. The first is when Carl finally gets his house where he wants it, but at the cost of sacrificing Kevin’s well-being. The house is finally down, and what does Carl get? His dream fulfilled? Nope. Instead he learns from his late wife Ellie a heart-wrenching lesson about where our dreams should be located: down to earth. The second scene where the house goes down is the final time Carl sees it. The house floats down and disappears in clouds. That is the moment when the drama of the movie has been resolved, and Carl begins his new adventure, which does not take place in the clouds.

Speaking of adventure, what about Muntz’s Zeppelin blimp, “The Spirit of Adventure”? For a lifetime Muntz took it “up” into the air on adventures. He chased dreams. But he did so selfishly, and ultimately alone. Kind of like Russell’s absentee dad, who leaves him and his mother for the dreamy adventure of an affair. I loved the final scene of the movie. “The Spirit of Adventure” has finally come down out of the clouds. It’s parked over a “boring” ice cream shop, where Russell and Carl (who is filling in for Russell’s missing dad) are just kicking it together, enjoying each other - making everyday life an adventure.

Did you catch all that? A children’s movie that addresses: infertility, aging, death, and infidelity. Wow! Pixar is back. The best storytellers around. The most courageous. The most moving stories for our times. They might just help us get our heads out of the clouds, where we dream and chase fantasies that do not become us. Now that’s down to earth.

Comments

[Nathaniel Keifer]

Dave, great review! I had, essentially, the same thoughts and feelings for the movie (I've seen it 4 times), but I can never put it into words as good as others.

[Dave Bruno]

Thanks Nathaniel. I'm glad someone else got a few of the same things I saw. (I'm not crazy!)

[EDW]

My husband said, on our way home from seeing it, "Pixar doesn't make movies, they make films".

It was hard for our 5 yr old to watch, mostly because she is very sheltered in her viewing and thus had no certainty that it would be okay in the end. But it hit me that her reaction is closer to the where the characters are than mine. She felt their sadness and elation and worries. She cried over the loss of Ellie as Carl played it out, again and again.

I absolutely loved the scene where he turns the page - their whole life, there. It spoke so much to Ellie's values, which Carl had lost in his grief. But how wonderful to see him get them back!