I Make Movie Review-Up

Ever want a litmus test of just how good a movie is??? See it in a theater with a gaggle of teenagers trading retainer-mouthed gossip, a Mexican businesswoman conducting a phone call en Espanol, a cried banshee of a newborn, and two college kids participating in a series of very movement-oriented larcenies in the front row. If you don't leave, it must be a pretty good one, right?? Well, I saw Up under the said circumstances, and didn't move a muscle the whole time. And the movie isn't good, it's great--a total triumph, a celebration of the boundless power of imagination, a surprisingly mature and smart thrill ride of a movie that, in addition to being the best picture of the year so far, may very well become the most iconic and beloved kiddie flick since The Wizard of Oz. The set-up is this; sad-eyed, lock-jawed widower Carl Frederickson (props for the perfect casting of Ed Asner), has become such a cantankerous old badger that he's being forced into one of those over-advertised, aggressively cheery retirement homes. But, when two blank-faced social works come to pick him up from his house, they get an unexpected surprise-the house takes off. As I watched this rickety old place being lifted off the ground (by a cluster of buoyant balloons, I might add), soaring unfettered across the city skyline, I felt something that must be similar to what baby boomers experienced when they took in Star Wars for the first time-the electric chill of the body telling the mind that what was once impossible to even conceive is now right there for all to conceive--and maybe it's not so impossible to bring to life, either. Carl is planning a trip to an exotic South American island his adventurous wife always wanted to explore. He expects a few navigatory hitches. What he doesn't expect is an endearingly pudgy pre-pubescent stowaway, a cabal of uproarious talking dogs, a mustache-twirling villain from his childhood past (hammed to a glorious high by Christopher Plummer), and a rainbow-bright birdy who's at the heart of the madcap series of chases, searches, and PG-rated battles that ensue. And what we as an audience don't expect is for something this absurd and off-kilter to work like a charm. Director Pete Docter, he of Monsters Inc. fame, blends the wacky the warm and the witty with expert finesse. Whenever you're cracking up, the laughs are always heartfelt and clever-no fart jokes here. And when you're tearing up (it's likely), during one of the film's more meditative stretches, the next perfectly orchestrated action scene or marvelously ingenious sight gag is just around the corner, ready to greet you like a good friend. Add the ground-breaking animation--the 3D cut I didn't see must be even better-, the golden, uber-hummable Michael Giachinno score (Oscar, take notice), and even the primo short film proceeded the actually feature, and you've got a Pixar movie that flies far and above their previous formidable efforts; an exemplary blend of craft and commerce that soars so high it brushes with legend. A+