UpsideReviewed by: Brian C. Johnson Good
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Family Teens Adults
Genre:
Christian Drama
Length:
1 hr. 46 min.
Year of Release:
2010
USA Release:
DVD: October 5, 2010
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Relevant Issues
Blindness in the Bible Pain and suffering
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer Does God feel our pain? Answer ORIGIN OF BAD—How did bad things come about? Answer Did God make the world the way it is now? What kind of world would you create? Answer God
How can we know there’s a God? Answer What if the cosmos is all that there is? Answer If God made everything, who made God? Answer Teen issues
Eternal salvation
Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer
“It’s all how you look at it.” Sometimes in life, things happen that seemingly flip your world upside down! For high school senior Solomon White (Randall Bentley), this could never be more true when a head injury causes his vision to be flipped; he is only able to see images upside down. With college scouts vying for his attention, an ex-girlfriend who won’t leave him alone, a sour relationship with his mother, and a teacher with very high expectations, Solomon feels his life spinning out of control. As he tries to set his world aright, Solomon meets a blind girl who teaches him about finding your way in the darkness and about true faith in God. “Upside” provides the viewer with the ultimate question, “What would you do?” Sadly, it offers little else. The film suffers from all the ills of most Christian films: bad acting, low budget, poor storytelling, and a general lack of umph. Solomon is on a journey that most adolescents (and some adults) find themselves—trying to find a sense of self and a firm foundation upon which to build a future, but as we have come to know, there are no easy answers along the way. During his search, Solomon does begin a relationship with Christ after he witnesses a miracle while attending church with a friend. He finds some clarity through prayer and a brave teacher who loses her job for sharing the gospel during school hours. The central theme of the film can be summed up in a reading of Jeremiah 29:11,
Violence: None / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
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It was so fun to be able to watch a movie that the whole family enjoyed without any objectionable content. Our nine year-old boy, who plays lacrosse, enjoyed the sports-action segments and my wife and thirteen year-old daughter, enjoyed the romantic elements. It’s a classic movie and fantastic sound-track, on par with “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants.”
It’s so good, that I encourage everyone to not walk, but, run-out and get this movie TODAY…. Go!… Now!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
—Ralph Hemphill, age 50 (USA)