Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Billy Crystal, Ben Schwartz, Grace Gummer, Eloise Mumford, John Behlmann, David Castaneda, Kevin Dunn, Debra Monk, Nate Corddry, Caitlin McGee, Leonard Ouzts, Nathan James, Hassan Johnson, Nick Sadhnani, Kelsey Reinhardt, Wade Allain-Marcus, Charlie Hankin, Tami Sagher, Marilyn Seide, Mike Carlsen, Kate Arrington, Jill Hennessy, Connor Ratliff, Kevin Kevin, Glenn Kubota, Joan Porter, Jackie Sanders, Jim Santangeli, Chris LaPanta, Michael Kostroff.
We meet people for a specific reason, we might not change their lives, but we might give them hope, courage and perhaps the understanding they have been missing from a family member who no longer talks to them; despite that person’s best efforts.
It is the surrogacy of performance, the adoption of one older than yourself, from the previous generation and with no other ties, except that you both learn something new about yourself, and no matter what time there is left, it is used and hopefully given mutual benefit, mutual consent in comfort and belonging.
If we are fortunate, we may see art reflected in this bonding, the capturing of two human souls offering the two responses and considerations we all need, that of a friendly ear which will listen and which will not allow the person to interrupt, and that of understanding. Too often we employ the art of conversation, but we use it as a weapon, one in which one-upmanship, one in which one permanently stands up whilst the other is falling down, never really connecting on a base level, never really bringing equality of spirit to the companionship so badly needed.
Standing Up, Falling Down is one of those films that you have few expectations for and yet surprisingly becomes one of the great observations of life to which you find mulling over. In the same way that Alexander Payne’s Sideways has become a fan favourite and cult classic because of the way it deals with the uncertainty of vulnerability, the humour of deprecation, and the fear in most men that they have to be seen as holding themselves up to a far higher sense of purpose when all they want to do is be human, to enjoy what might be the last day.
Whilst Billy Crystal has always been eminently watchable, arguably one of the great comedy actors of his time, rightly critically acclaimed for his portrayal of the soul searching meaning of life man to whom so much has been denied, it is in his partnership with Ben Schwartz as the failed stand-up comedian Scott Rollins in this film, and that of his fractured relationship with his unforgiving son Adam, that really gets to the heart of the matter, and whilst the film is a deserving vehicle for Mr. Schwartz to be at the helm of, it is to Billy Crystal that the humanity of the situation catches the attention of the viewer.
Standing Up, Falling Down is a gracious film, pathos, and humour in one full serving, exceptionally observed, a film that uses drama to bring out the laughter of the honest soul.
Ian D. Hall