UPSIDE DOWN
BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
MARCH 15, 2013


Often overcomplicated and drawn out, “Upside Down” is ambitious from the start but loses ground when it tries too hard to be something futuristic and different. The cinematography is outstanding, resembling that of Terrence Malick’s work, with stunning, vast landscapes and much-needed visual effects, in this science fiction interpretation of love between two very different people.
With an amnesia plot device that messes with the film’s pacing and a complex story structure of changing rules, it is miraculous this film doesn’t entirely fall off the deep end. Instead, it is held wonderfully in check by actors Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst, who individually prove their statures in their own right. When there is a sense of urgency, the film comes together nicely, but when random events occur, like men with dogs in the woods, it’s a shame the film loses such a foothold.
Promising and enduring, “Upside Down” is a pleasant, romantic, science fiction endeavor but straddles the borders between an above-average fantasy piece and a nonsensical substandard sci-fi flick.


RELEASE DATE
March 15, 2013
DIRECTOR
Juan Diego Solanas
WRITTEN BY
Juan Diego Solanas
STUDIO
Millennium Entertainment
PG-13
(for some violence)
DRAMA
FANTASY
ROMANCE
SCI-FI
100 minutes






CINEMATOGRAPHER
Pierre Gill
COMPOSER
Benoît Charest
Sigur Rós
EDITOR
Dominique Fortin
Paul Jutras
CAST
Jim Sturgess
Kirsten Dunst
Timothy Spall
Jayne Heitmeyer
PRODUCED BY
Claude Léger
Dimitri Rassam
Aton Soumache
Jonathan Vanger
Alexis Vonarb
BUDGET
$50 million
