5 FLIGHTS UP
DIRECTOR: Richard Loncraine
CAST: Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton, Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Preston
CLASSIFICATION: 7 PG L
RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes
RATING: ***
WHILE the plot might be the flimsiest, the characterisation actors Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton bring to this film turns it into a small delight.
They play married couple Ruth and Alex Carver, who live on the fifth floor of an apartment block with no lift. Considering their advancing age and the area’s growing attractiveness on the housing market, they enlist a niece to help sell the apartment.
Then their dog ends up needing an operation as they start looking for a new place to live.
Meanwhile, in the background there’s a possible terrorist bomber on the loose in their neighbourhood but life simply has to go on.
The two actors are so in tune with each other, just like an old married couple, and this creates a warm, believable chemistry between them that speaks to a long relationship between two people who know each other well.
Cynthia Nixon pops up as their real estate agent niece who is not above making a good buck out of her aunt and uncle who don’t realise what a good piece of real estate they have been sitting on for the past 40 years. She is a fast-talking shark when compared to the principled artist type in Alex, and the earthy teacher type we find in Ruth.
Korey Jackson and Claire van der Boom play the couple in flashbacks which take us back to the ’70s when they first moved in and faced racist bigotry because of their relationship.
Various issues are touched on – gentrification (their once-dodgy neighbourhood is being taken over by the hipsters), getting old (Alex is struggling to get up the stairs and it’s not going to get better), broader politics of domestic terrorism and the mystery that is managing a real estate deal – but nothing really gets resolved.
This is a gentle meander through the lives of two people having to deal with the wonders of getting old and the assumptions others make about you because of your age. There is no violence or sketchy behaviour (unless you count the estate agents), smutty sex scenes or thrilling, mysterious twists and turns.
The two visit their dog in doggie hospital, sit on a park bench, reminisce about what it means to be a portrait artist and inadvertently joke about getting old.
The way it turns everyday life and especially domestic stability into a sentimental exercise is sweet and charming. Just don’t go expecting anything substantial, suspenseful or deep about this reminder that selling your home is not for sissies.
If you liked Robot and Frank or Grace and Frankie, you will like this.