Jonathan Glatzer Director
Writers:
Jonathan Glatzer (writer)
Robert Lawson (writer)
Steve Coogan, Josh Peck, Hilary Duff and Molly Shannon
Set as a quiet background, a seemingly unobtrusive event, is the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy. Add to that the images not discussed of the school teacher, Sam Calailucci's plummet to his death off a roof top. Then add the humor that only young "misfit" teenagers can muster juxtaposed against the too well established adult world and what do you have, WHATgoesUP
What stays down on earth is our creation of heroes in our midst.
WHATgoesUP is the story of the reported Babbitt(Steve Coogan) obsessed by the death(suicide) of a local hero. He is reassigned to the New Hampshire hometown of the doomed teacher Charitia McAuliffe(an old college buddy) and soon to be suicide victim.
Two suicides, one failed shuttle with resounding heroic effects and youth confronting the advent of life in the troubled adult world.
And this is a comedy, a seemingly light hearted film for those who see films for the pleasure rather than the message to be learned or understood
My hero is the film maker who dared to go beyond the Judeo-Christian ethics and morality with which we are too familiar and accept too readily its limitations on our ability to live our lives as we want. He replaces this time hononred guide to a "good life" with a discussion of Socrates, as the true hero in our midst.
Suicide victims do not go to hell and ABORTION is shown, (the first time I have seen it in a main stream film) without dire consequences. The teenage girl( Molly Shannon ) is accompanied not by her parents and not with their consent or knowledge but by a girlfriend ( Hilary Duff), someone with true compassion and understanding of the necessity of the procedure.
And Molly Shannon's character survives! She becomes a hero, a mature young adult whose wisdom is well worth listening to.
I recommend this film because of the quiet, amusing and convincing way it presents highly charged ideas. My only regret is that the film makers didn't have the abundance of finacial backing to make this film an exravaganza of robust detail. They seem to have spent their limited funds on quality acting rather than expensive and elaborate sets.
Who can fault that!
LindaZises
WBAI Women's Collective
Criticalwomen@blogspot.com
