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The Independent Critic

STARRING
Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart, Nicole Kidman, Julianna Margulies, Golshifteh Farahani
DIRECTED BY
Neil Burger
SCREENPLAY
Jon Hartmere (Screenplay by), Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (based on the movie Les Intouchables by)
MPAA RATING
Rated PG-13
RUNNING TIME
125 Mins.
DISTRIBUTED BY
STX International
OFFICIAL WEBSITE

 "The Upside" has Almost Nothing but Downsides 
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We live in a world that celebrates the advent of faux proms that segregate rather than integrate. 

We live in a world where a disabled person's Olympics must be "special." 

We live in a world where nearly 80% of working age adults with disabilities are unemployed but not unemployable. 

We live in a world where viral videos, or inspiration porn, objectifies those with disabilities and glorifies false stereotypes and exploits the very people it claims to celebrate. 

So, you'll have to excuse me if I'm not particularly surprised that Hollywood has gifted, sarcasm noted, the disabled community once again with a film that is about us but without us. Based upon the French film The Intouchables, The Upside stars Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston as Philip, a billionaire businessman whose vacation hang-gliding accident ends in "tragedy" in the form of quadriplegia. 

While the 2011 French film also starred a non-disabled actor, Francois Cluzet, the film was a critical success largely on the strength of the chemistry between Cluzet's Philip and Omar Sy, who played his carer in the film, and it seemed nearly inevitable that the film would find its way stateside.