Release Date: May 29
Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Writer: Bob Peterson
Starring:
Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai
Studio/Run Time: Pixar, 96 mins.
I'm trying to imagine the pitch meeting at Pixar when it was decided that the studio would spend millions of dollars developing Up:Wall-E
Thank God for Pixar. When Toy Story came out, it was a technological triumph, but storytelling has really been what's set the company apart from its rivals, and Up
continues that dominance. Asner's character, Carl Fredericksen, turns
out not to be the grumpy, old man shown in previews (well, he does send
a kid snipe hunting), but a kindly devoted husband adrift after the
loss of his wife. His first 78 years are condensed into the film's
beautiful first 10 minutes, as we see a young boy with dreams of
adventure fall in love with a fellow dreamer. Though childless, the
couple live full lives until Carl is left alone. After his wife's
death, he clings on to every memory of her including a house that
stands stubbornly in the way of a high-rise development. He has a
single regret (an unfulfilled promise of a trip to Paradise Falls), but
even less purpose, and when cornered, he does what any wistful
balloon-maker would do—fly his house to South America.
The
resulting Andean adventures snap him from his self-pitying funk by
providing him with a goal to pursue, but it's not his childhood dream
that provides ultimate fulfillment. In a culture that devalues its
elders, tucking them away in nursing homes and occupying their time
with leisure pursuits, it's refreshing to be reminded that, regardless
of age, meaning can always be found in both relationships and story—that
glorious struggle to overcome adversity in the pursuit of justice. That
the reminder comes in the form of a cartoon would be more surprising if
not for the depth of the Pixar's previous films like The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Wall-E.
Sure,
the film has its adorable characters for the kids—the dogs with
innovative collars that allow their thoughts to be communicated through
speech, the wilderness scout who tags along for the ride and even some
cute baby birds. But it also offers kids (and grown-ups) hilarious sight
gags and dialogue, which my children were quoting all the way home. But what
makes Up such a satisfying film is the story of an old man
deciding that he still has life left to be lived. And that life is an
adventure.