At the Movies with Robert’s Sister: UP

It’s been tough deciding on the first movie to review! Since my reviews are geared toward the caregiver my criteria for the movies are:

1. The movie has to be easily accessible for home viewing;
2. The movie has to be cheap;
3. The movie has to be inspiring, funny, thought-provoking or pure escapism (or all of the above if that’s even possible);
4. The movie can be watched by the caregiver, co-caregiver and/or caree – I’ll definitely note if there’s some reason a caree shouldn’t watch a particular movie;

Sprinkled throughout the reviews, will be those that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture! I will also occasionally even review a newly released movie – once I can get to the theater.

Since Richard and I haven’t yet found an aide to stay with Robert, we recently had a “date night” at home.  This involved me getting Robert to bed (after some Rocky Road, of course), having him watch regular television instead of the recorded shows (because Robert can work a remote even less proficiently than I can) and then me running upstairs with the dogs to snuggle in to watch a movie with Richard.

Instead of popcorn next to my seat, I had two dogs and a video monitor to keep an eye on Robert. Richard was standing and stretching his aching back and in control of the remote. 

I think we had frozen yogurt but it’s a little hard to enjoy that with a fifty pound puppy sticking his nose in the cup saying, “Whatcha got, mom? Whatcha got, mom? Whatcha got, mom?”

We debated what to watch on our date night: Continue with our streak of watching documentaries?  Find another series to dive into?  Watch a regular movie? (At this rate, date night is going to be over before we decide!)

As Richard scrolled through the movies I remembered a movie I had heard was terrific and I hadn’t yet seen: UP.  

I can hear you asking incredulously – what? You haven’t yet seen UP??  No and I have no idea what I was doing in May 2009 that made me too busy to see such a gem.

Several sources had mentioned what a heart-warming and inspiring movie it was. I also knew it had either won or been nominated for Best Picture. I wasn’t far off – UP was nominated for Best Picture but lost to The Hurt Locker.  UP did win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.  

I knew I needed to see this critically acclaimed, popular and sweet movie but when deciding if this should be my first review, I wondered if I should admit I hadn’t yet seen it!

Of course, I have to be honest so there you have it – I saw UP for the first time a few weeks ago and it lived up to everything I had heard about it.

I was in love within the first five minutes. Two young kids share a love of adventure, fall in love as they grow up, get married and have a shared dream of future adventures.  Of course, life sometimes has a way of changing our dreams and hopes for the future.

Caregivers know this as well as anyone.

The main character, Carl Fredricksen, voiced gruffly yet poignantly as only Ed Asner can, wallows in self-pity and bitterness for a while but then sets off on an adventure to honor his and his wife’s dreams.  

An adorable, earnest and persistent boy (as well as a few unusual animals), join Carl on a wild and at times, treacherous, adventure.  Only after overcoming adversity and coming face to face with his hero, does Carl come to the realization that sometimes our best dreams have been under our noses all along.

I highly recommend this movie for the caregiver and their caree and give it five scoops of Rocky Road ice cream (out of five).

UP can be found on Amazon for $3.99 (for a 3-day rental) or $8.99 to purchase. 

Richard and I have Netflix and ordered it online for $3.99.

I also have one copy of the DVD to give to the first person to comment that they would like a copy! 

UP is rated PG and is a Disney and Pixar production.  It is directed by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson and lasts 96 minutes.  For a full list of credits, please visit here.