Plot Summary
Solomon White was a successful high school lacrosse player until a concussion knocks him out of commission. What’s more, the head injury also causes him to see everything upside down. This puts his lacrosse scholarship in jeopardy as he does his best to recover. Part of this rehabilitation is attending a sight impairment support group. At one of these meetings, he meets a blind girl whom he falls in love with. However, with his new complicated life, what path will Solomon take?
Production Quality (2 points)
Despite some instances of shaky camera work, such as dizzying action shots, other camera elements are fine, and the video is consistently clear. Audio is acceptable even though the soundtrack is a bit generic and too loud at times. Additionally, there are some loud sound effects and confusing special effects. However, the sets, locations, and props are great, as is the lighting. Also, all aspects of the production get better as they go, and it should be noted that the camera work depicting the protagonist’s medical condition is creative. Thus, an above-average score is warranted.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
In the beginning, Upside tends to waste time with sports and musical montages, along with basic, vanilla dialogue that leaves characters as somewhat vague. Nonetheless, the narrative contains a good exploration of disabilities even though the characters tend to represent the issues rather than actual people. Also, the first half of the plot meanders as it lacks focus and wastes good ideas, but the psychological elements are notable. Unfortunately, it’s hard to understand how some characters know certain things, and there’s an arbitrary application of character motive. As the storyline celebrates unearned victories that lack basis or lead-up, it’s mostly a collection of random scenes that lack consistency and major themes between them, which causes the movie as a whole to lack a focused purpose. At times, it’s hard to understand why certain things transpire except for the fact that the writers needed them to happen at specific moments. Even with all of these concerns, there’s some potential to note, such as the interesting ending that applies some creatively relevant themes although it takes too long to get to and lacks adequate build-up. In general, there are just too many things going on, and integration of themes throughout the narrative is greatly lacking as some portions of the movie unnecessarily fall by the wayside. The character arcs are just too steep for what the creators wanted to do, and in general, Upside needs a full rewrite.
Acting Quality (2 points)
Though some of the acting in this film seems unsure and like it was done in one take, things do tend to improve as they go. Despite slightly robotic emotions and line delivery, some cast members appear to be trying harder than others. As a whole, however, the improvements are enough to warrant an above-average score, which rounds out a basically run-of-the-mill screenplay.
Conclusion
We definitely need more films like Upside that explore the everyday struggles of people who have disabling conditions, but writers have to always be careful not to only treat these characters as representations of disabilities. The only way important issues are presented in movie form is when each character is treated like a real person with believable motives and backstory. When a screenplay is reduced to simply presenting a cause, it doesn’t have anything meaningful to offer even though there may be other positive aspects.
Final Rating: 5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 