5 FLIGHTS UP
Focus World
Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes.
Grade: B+
Director: Richard Loncraine
Screenwriter: Charlie Peters, based on novel “Heroic Measures” by Jill Climent
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton, Cynthia Nixon, Claire van der Boom, Korey Jackson, Carrie Preston
Screened at: Universal, NYC, 3/31/15
Opens: May 8, 2015
Director Richard Loncraine, whose résumé includes the likes of Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” evokes considerable tension from his cast in “5 Flights Up,” but here’s the surprise. The tension does not come from watching the timer on a bomb clicking toward zero while the good guys work frantically to debate which wires to cut with 2 seconds to go. Nor does the stress emanate from the hurried tracking of a stalker who has promised to kill the former girlfriend who has dismissed him for another a lover. The tension is borne from our wondering whether an elderly couple, Alex (Morgan Freeman) and his wife of forty years, Ruth (Diane Keaton), will find a good price for the home they bought decades ago and which has appreciated in price from $5,000 (as described in Jill Climent’s novel “Heroic Measures”) to almost one million dollars today. The hood is Williamsburg, which has emerged from the lower depths to become one of the hippest neighborhood in all of New York City, and a successful sale of this fifth-floor walkup will enable the child-free duo to change their digs to Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It looks as though all signals are “go,” but the inevitable twist near the conclusion upends the story’s arc convincingly.
Not that their lives are a breeze. Ruth and Alex’s 12-year-old Border terrier (a Dachshund in the novel), which they name Dorothy because “we’re not in Kansas anymore” (never mind that Dorothy is not and had never been a Cairn, though as a pup she was a Norfolk terrier), develops a spinal problem possibly from walking four flights daily and needs a $1,000 MRI and a $10,000 operation, but that’s no problem for a duo expecting almost a seven-figure sale on their wildly appreciated flat. And did we mention that the couple are interracial to the regret of Ruth’s family who, in the 1970s, suggest, “What about your children?”
“5 Flights Up,” which could be performed on an off-Broadway stage, is both a heartfelt drama about the lives of two mature people—a rare enough subject for the movies these days—and a comedy formed by shuttling in a virtual army of neurotic New Yorkers who are looking at apartments either with the idea of buying or, well, just looking. As the real estate agent who wants nothing to do with the mere lookers, Niece (Cynthia Nixon) runs around frantically in search of her commission, even setting up a deal with the agent representing the potential sellers in Manhattan (Carrie Preston—who in the TV series “The Good Wife” steals every scene she’s in).
It’s great to find a drama whose smiles and even laughs do not insult our intelligence (“Mike & Molly” and “2 Broke Girls” anybody?) but emerge quite naturally from the story. And how can you go wrong with Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton in the starring roles? If, like me, you live in Brooklyn and are of a certain age, and have considered changing your venue as this painter and that retired teacher have done, and moreover you have or had a small dog, you will enjoy the added bonus of relating strongly to the theme. “5 Flights Up” deserves a wider audience than “Furious 7.” But I somehow think that wish is overly optimistic.
Unrated. 92 minutes. © Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online
Story – B+
Acting – A-
Technical – B
Overall – B+
