Fantastic Madcap Adventure Of Old Man Who Flies Away In His House

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2009)

Carl Fredericksen is an elderly widower whose house is in the middle of a building site. Rather than be evicted to the local old folks home, he ties thousands of balloons to his house and literally flies away to South America for an adventure. However, unbeknown to Carl, he has a well-intentioned stowaway on board
This is Pixar's tenth movie in, and the quality of their work is quite simply outstanding. Up is a wonderfully original story about an irascible old man, a likable fat boy, a talking dog and an embittered adventurer from a bygone age. It's a crazy, almost farcical plot, but yet the characters are so carefully observed and real seeming that you are swept along by the beauty of it. The wordless montage of Carl and Ellie's marriage at the start is an extraordinary five minutes of animation. Russell, the Boy Scout do-gooder, is a genuinely great kid - he's goofy, a little sad and he keeps the story moving nicely. The Lost World environs - lush groves, rocky tepui plateaus and dazzling waterfalls - are all rendered with exquisite detail. Although the story takes some swallowing, nothing about the movie seems forced - Carl's growing fondness for Russell, his reluctance to let go of his past life, his resolve to help rescue the rare bird - all flow as smooth as silk. Most importantly, it's hilarious throughout, with comic scrapes aplenty, crazy situations, lots of madcap moments ("Squirrel !") and genuinely funny characters. The small voice cast are great; eighty-year-old Asner and eight-year-old Nagai make a lovely team, and co-director Peterson steals the movie as both Dug the heroic Golden Retriever and Alpha the scary Doberman. Deftly scripted by Docter and Peterson with actor Thomas McCarthy, and featuring a beautiful score by Michael Giacchino which weaves in and out of the action, adding much suspense, humour and pathos. In the Pixar tradition, the movie is preceded by a wonderful short film called Partly Cloudy, directed by Peter Sohn. Do not confuse this with the 1976 Russ Meyer movie of the same name, or you may never recover !