Up : Movie Review


There are so many charming visual touches in Pixar's "Up" -- like the homey-looking wood-frame house that floats into the sky with the help of a thousand translucent candy-colored balloons -- that, frame by frame, the movie seems to be daring us not to fall in love with it. The characters may not tug at our heartstrings outright, but they do surreptitiously plink away at them: The lead character, Carl Frederickson (Ed Asner), is a square-headed, gruff little old man, a former balloon seller who's grieving over his wife's death; Russell (Jordan Nagai) is the tubby, not-very-bright but well-meaning Boy Scout who at first annoys Carl and then becomes his sole friend. Together, Carl and Russell find an adventure -- or perhaps the adventure finds them -- and learn that we can't always know what to expect out of life.

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Author : Stephanie Zacharek