The Upside is That Kevin Hart is Good in This

The Upside (2019)

The Upside is a heartwarming film about a super rich quadriplegic, played by Bryan Cranston, who is in need of a new caretaker, even though he wants to die. He hires the least qualified candidate, Kevin Hart, and in traditional Kevin Hart fashion, hijinks ensue. Except they didn’t. In every scene where I thought Kevin Hart would ham it up, he didn’t. He and Cranston played off each other very well, while never dipping into the absurd. It is the side of Hart that has been buried by his choice of roles, his persona as a stand-up, and his public appearances like trying to get on the Super Bowl stage intoxicated last year. The movie had problems, such as dangling plot threads about Hart’s past and some pacing issues, but overall it was a pleasant dive into a story of a symbiotic relationship that yields immense personal growth. It was an appropriately small cast, with three leads, Cranston, Hart, and Nicole Kidman, and only 6 or 7 ancillary characters. The size of the production made a movie set in New York high society feel intimate. Overall, I really enjoyed The Upside. Even though it had flaws, it was still entertaining. It isn’t going to garner the Oscar buzz that the casting was clearly baiting, but that doesn’t make it bad by any measure. I give The Upside 6 out of 10 puppies in an average litter of brave Dobermans.