The Upside
Philip is a disabled billionaire, who feels that life is not worth living. To help him in his day-to-day routine, he hires Del, a parolee who is trying to reconnect with his estranged wife. What begins as a professional relationship develops into a friendship as Del shows his grouchy charge that life is worth living.
alihoneycutt reviewed
November 29, 2025•
I make no secret that I grow tired of the current Hollywood cliche' of the fathers who receive no respect from the children and women in their lives. I will call it out every time.
In this instance, our protagonist gets no respect because he is unable to provide resources for his family, (though the ability to provide is never the sole reason of the disrespect, discourtesy, undermining, and humiliation of the American male). When he bought a nice home in a nice neighborhood for his son's mother, his only grace was receiving an inaudible "thank you" from her (she couldn't even condescend to give him the dignity of a "thank you" that could be heard). Modern feminism on full grotesque display.
If you can get past that (which is a required discipline for nearly every modern American film), then you'll find an entertaining movie about accepting people. They mercifully stop short at getting too preachy (an indulgence shared by too many filmmakers), but the players maneuver gracefully throughout.
4 stars.