A somber,wistful heart at the center of another buoyant PIXAR film

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2009)

Widower Carl Fredrickson(voice of Ed Asner)feels like his time left could best be spent fulfilling the dream that he and his wife shared:namely,to fly off and explore the wilds of South America. A balloon salesman for a good part of his adult life,he decides to use his inventory to lift and carry away the old home that he shared with her for the forty some years they were together. And why not? The house is surrounded by a massive re-urbanizing development and there's considerable pressure on him to sell his beloved home. Rather than do that,he's set on taking his dreams in tact with him to do the things that he lived a lifetime putting off.
The plans seem great. One hitch:a chubby,overly chatty World Explorer Scout named Russell,who is doggedly intent on helping Carl to finish his badge accumulation.
The rest of the story is the main motor of this latest offering by the revolutionary studio. A struggle to navigate to the mythic falls point of the region(they miss the target,landing on the far other side of the plateau),as they are joined by a mythic wild bird and a voice-collar speaking hunting dog,defending against the hunting wishes of a lost explorer(voice of Christopher Plummer),whose singular vision to chase HIS aspirations have turned him into something g far less noble than he once was or appeared.
This is a nice,sometimes inspired,sometimes funny,somewhat maudlin story that has nothing really wrong with it(save a suspension of disbelief over,among other things,the physics of a balloon-carried old-style home being carried,in tact,over thousands of miles). Director Pete Docter and co-writer,co-director Bob Petersen(who voices many of the dogs in the story,particularly Dug,the afore-mentioned dog that greets the intrepid travelers initially)supply a perfectly smart,engaging and entertaining film. I,personally,couldn't quite warm up to it as wholly as past PIXAR adventures(Toy Story,Buig's Life,Finding Nemo and WALL-E come to mind),but I still found this easily very entertaining and reasonably endearing(the dogs with talking collars particularly tickled me). Some rather depressing,adult themes and a longer-than-expected opening might test the patience of some,but this film largely is able to,like its title,stay buoyant throughout.