By Megan Gaffney

In a shocking twist of events, Kevin Hart makes us forget that he is Kevin Hart.  He traded in his constantly funny roles for one with substance and depth. Hart is able to take on a serious role and is actually able to play it well and in a believable way, contradicting his history as a comedic actor in the film “The Upside”.  

The movie goes straight to the heart of the story rather than just trying to make you laugh.  Phillip Lacasse, played by Bryan Cranston, is a quadriplegic man who has just fired his most recent caretaker and is looking for a replacement.  Dell Scott (Hart) stumbles upon this job while he is looking for a janitorial position in the same building, but has no intention of taking the job.  He is unqualified in any health position, but ends up accepting the position anyways due to his tough circumstances.  The chief executive of handling Lacasse affairs, named Yvonne (Nicole Kidman), warns Dell that if he makes just three mistakes then he will be fired, but Phillip intends to keep him around regardless of these mistakes.  These three main characters must work together to find the best path of care for Lacasse.  While this was not a movie that was meant to have a lot of action, I still remained entertained by the variety of camera angles and colorful lines by each character.

Throughout the movie, one might expect Hart to drop some kind of crude joke, or really a joke of any kind, but the jokes are few and far between.  The ability of the director, Neil Burger, to create a serious character in Hart was executed not just in character, but also in the change of camera styles.  Each time that Hart was shown on screen during a serious moment, the close up camera angles that focused on his emotions created a serious and dynamic character for the movie.  While placing Hart into a new character type, Burger allows for Hart’s personality to come through in the occasional comedic relief in tough situations. Although these lines were few, they didn’t feel forced because of how well placed they were in the different situations in the movie.

Cranston also had an impressive performance playing a quadriplegic.  His ability to create emotions simply through his lines and facial expressions was a great feat of acting.  While Hart and Cranston stole the show in their great performances, Nicole Kidman didn’t do herself credit in this minor role.  Considering how big her name is in the film industry, I thought that her character would appear on camera more, which was slightly disappointing.  There was only one time that she was on the screen for more than a minute, and even then she didn’t have many lines that helped to move the movie along.  Luckily the duo of Hart and Cranston kept the movie interesting and engaging all on their own.

While the storyline is similar to “Me Before You”, there are distinct aspects to reassure that “The Upside” isn’t just a remake.  In the more heart wrenching rendition of “Me Before You” the family of a quadriplegic is trying to help him find a reason to keep living.  His new caretaker is a lighthearted and bubbly woman who he falls madly in love with but still questions if life was worth living. The topic is not necessarily a versatile one to make into a movie, but it was done well enough that as I watched “The Upside” I wasn’t drawing parallels between the two movies.  The only real parallel was the fact that the main characters were a quadriplegic and his caretaker who face difficulties in their jobs. I would actually say that this movie was a better version with its less romanticized ideas and realistic approach to how the life of someone in this situation would really be; the only catch is that he’s rich.

While I expected this movie to have Hart as an intruding character with too much comedic commentary, it had a captivating storyline, interesting camera angles, and a new side of him that I hope I can see again.