Here it is: the movie equivalent of a crazy, distracting, impossibly attractive lover. Everything about "Upside Down" is nutso preposterous but it draws you in and locks you in a warm embrace, declaring undying love and promising mystery and eternal longing forever more. If there was a way I could go on a date with "Upside Down" or at least have a few drinks at the bar with it, I would be a happy woman.
Written and directed by Juan Solanas (son of Argentinian director Fernando Solanas), "Upside Down" is ultimately old-fashioned sci-fi in the guise of a splendidly romantic love story. Or maybe it's the other way around. Set in an unspecified future where humans live on twin planets divided by poverty and wealth, grungey nice-guy Adam (Jim Sturgess) tries to rekindle a teenage love with gorgeous Eden (Kirsten Dunst, who has never looked so radiant).
Adam faces a mountain of obstacles, like the fact that his home planet of Down Below is a miserable, crime-ridden, impoverished slum, while Eden lives on Up Top — glittering with riches and suspended just above Down Below in a way that makes Adam and the rest of the populace feel like worms. Meanwhile, get this: The two planets have opposite gravities, which means that Adam can't visit Eden without contorting every muscle in his body. And even then, he must wear special steel weights on his calves to hold him down. Or up. Or whatever it is.