Looking at Life a New Way
Solomon 'Soli' White (Randall Bentley) has it all as he is popular at school, a gifted athlete with a wealthy mum and a nice car. He is also on the verge of winning a scholarship to a prestigious naval academy that he has always wanted to attend. But then during a Lacrosse game Soli is knocked unconscious and when he comes to his whole world is upside down, quite literally as the knock on his head as caused his vision to flip everything upside down. Now having had what some may say was a charmed life Soli finds himself having to approach life differently which leads to a friendship with Wren (Leah Sims) who is blind and him opening his eyes to a new life as through a professor he discovers a gift for writing whilst Wren's belief leads him to the church.
Well "Upside" certainly has an interesting USP with a high school student suffering a brain injury which causes his vision to flip upside down; I honestly can't remember another movie to have ever used this. But it is a very clever idea especially in a faith based movie which is all about opening your eyes to where your life is going rather than where you think it should be going. As such we watch as Soli 'perfect' life unravels not only in what he thought he wanted but also he sees how people really are because he has to think about what he sees.
But as always when I find myself watching a faith based movie I am torn because once again the production values are lower than most mainstream movies. Now in fairness "Upside" is a lot better than a lot of faith based movies I have watched, the actors seem a lot more natural than in many a movie especially those in the main roles and even those in the supporting roles seem to be better cast than usual. Yes there are times when the acting is forced and awkward but not as much as normal. But there is still one glaring problem and that is a soundtrack which is overbearing, too soaring and that is a layer of cheese which not only spoils this movie but many a faith based movie.
Now I could waffle on about its typical flaws whilst also mention those things which are better than you normally get from this type of movie but it would be missing the point. The point is that "Upside" makes you think about the life you live, the choices you make, the choices made for you by others; about living the life you are given, having fear and having belief in something. And whilst I would say that "Upside" is mainly made for an already Christian audience it isn't so flawed or preachy that it will alienate those who watch not realising what they are watching, in fact it has the ability to make them think about their life and choices.
What this all boils down to is that "Upside" like many a faith based movie has its production flaws, but it doesn't have as many as normal and it has an interesting storyline which keeps you from thinking too much about those issues. And it is the story and the message it is trying to get across that makes "Upside" a pleasant surprise.
