An Ode to Up

Way back in November I saw Bolt. I wasn't really interested in seeing the movie, but I was very interested in the boy that invited me. It was a sweet, entertaining movie, but what really piqued my interest was the trailer I saw for the movie Up. I thought it seemed like a really fun, creative concept, and it was Pixar, so I knew it would be good. What I didn't know was that it would be among the most beautiful love stories I've seen on film.

The movie opens with an old timey newsreel telling the story of an adventurer exploring South America, while an enthusiastic young boy we'll come to know as Carl bops in his seat. On his way home from the theater, he hears the sound of a fellow adventurer coming from a dilapidated old Victorian house. It's Ellie, the most kickass girl I've seen in a theater this year. They become friends, and Ellie shows Carl her scrapbook, the first few pages filled with her plans to move to South America, the rest of the pages blank, waiting for mementos of adventures to come.

The rest of their story is told quickly and mostly silently. They get married and move into the Victorian house where they met, fixing it up and dreaming of their future. When Ellie is devastated to learn that children aren't possible, Carl cheers her up by reminding her of her childhood dream. They start saving for South America, but life continually intervenes. Ellie dies before they can go.

The bulk of the movie is made up of Carl's decision to fly their house to Paradise Falls to fulfill Ellie's dream and his experiences on the way there, and it's lively and fun and entertaining and full of twists and turns. But the best moment in the movie is when, discouraged, Carl flips through Ellie's scrapbook, and for the first time sees that Ellie didn't leave the pages blank; she's filled them with pictures of her life with Carl. That's the adventure she had.

I get restless in my life. I know there's so much to do and see in this world that I'm unlikely to see and do it all before I die and that fills me with wanderlust. It's nice to go to a children's movie on a Saturday expecting a fun and silly two hours and leave full of hope that if you do it right, everyday is an adventure, even if it's just a picnic with someone you love.