Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston star in ‘The Upside’ (2019). A feel-good dramedy inspired by the true story of quadriplegic French billionaire Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his caretaker Abdel Sellou by way of ‘The Intouchables’ (2011).
Contrasting Hart’s wise-cracking ex-convict turned live-in caretaker with a businessman struggling with his new reality as a quadriplegic, the film boasts a restrained Hart and a consummate Cranston in a pedestrian remake elevated by the intermittent chemistry of its stars.
Also starring the fantastic Nicole Kidman with not much to do as an in-house chef and background love interest handing out 3 strikes to Hart’s Dell Scott as he bumbles his way through his new job, the film does suffer some clichés but seems to stop a hair from imagining Hart as some kind of magical negro with the exclusive ability to lift Cranston’s Phillip Lacasse out of his funk.
Light on any interrogation of issues of race and class but taking a few jabs at illustrating how society treats people with visible disabilities without wading particularly deep into the reality, ‘The Upside’ is tepid across the board.
As heartwarming as any film that underscores the fact that friendship can transcend race, class and untold privilege, the film feels familiar, runs a little too long but has some charm.
