'WHAT GOES UP must come down' and that seems to be one way of looking at this funky little film written by Robert Lawson and writer/director Jonathan Glatzer. Given Steve Coogan's comedic talents it is able to rise above an implausible script and come close to be entertaining.
The time frame is January 1986 and Campbell Babbitt (the last name is well chosen as a reference to Sinclair Lewis' novel 'Babbitt' - a satire of American culture, society, and behavior, it critiques the vacuity of middle-class American life and its pressure on individuals toward conformity) played by Steve Coogan is a reporter for New York World, writing a series about a woman who became a 'hero' by turning the anguish of seeing her son murdered in to acts of civil service (the woman whom Babbitt has grown to love commits suicide, and out of cherishing her memory he continues to write stories as though she were still alive - an act that Babbitt's editor Donna (Molly Price) finds ridiculous and sends Babbitt of to New Hampshire to cool off and to over the upcoming Space Shuttle Challenger).
Babbitt arrives in a little town in new Hampshire (the town is preparing to celebrate the Shutttle launch as Christa McAuliffe was raised there) to discover that his old friend Sam who was planning to become a priest but opted for teaching had a class of 'problem kids' who adored him. Babbitt discovers Sam's body in the street. The class of odd kids mourn Sam's passing: he was their hero. What Babbitt discovers is a group of kids each of whom is challenged with a problem and is trying to find ways to overcome those problems: Lucy Diamond - a reference to the Beatles song - (Hillary Duff) was in love with Sam; Tess Sulivan (Olivia Thirlby) claims she saw Lucy and Sam in an intimate moment, suggesting that Sam's act resulted in his jumping off his roof in suicide (Tess has private problems at home that lead to an unwanted pregnancy); Jim (Josh Peck) is the guardian of the coffin and funeral and 'burial' of Sam; Peggy (Sarah Lind) is a paraplegic who talks Fenster (Max Hoffman, son of Dustin Hoffman) into being her first sexual encounter; Ann (Ingrid Nilson) and her 'twin' Sue (Andrea Brooks) provide comic relief in their bizarre antics; Lute (Laura Carswell) is the dissatisfied choral assistant to the weirdo-choir director and pageant designer Penelope Little (Molly Shannon).
In the midst of this strange crew and situation Babbitt as a reporter tries to sort every thing out, falls for Lucy, and is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his woe begotten story in New York. His influence helps the kids sort out their priorities and leads Babbitt to find a way out of his own unwanted heroism. The story ends before we know the result of the Challenger explosion - and the creation of a real hero in Christa McAuliffe. But there really isn't a beginning or an end to a story in the ordinary sense of a film. WHAT GOES UP merely puts before the viewer the lives of some odd people and lets us watch how they cope. It has a bit of comedy, though dark, and a lot of tender moments that don't come into focus until movies end. For many this film will perplex: for others it will satisfy. It is an offbeat tale with a lot of innuendoes.
Grady Harp
