22
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirDirector and co-writer Jonathan Glatzer handles his talented cast well, and the movie is dark, droll and sentimental in roughly the correct proportions. Worth a look.
- 58The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayWhat Goes Up has a one-of-a-kind character in Coogan, a cynic with a savior complex, who lies partly out of convenience, and partly because he knows--as Glatzer and Lawson know--that even a messy story can still inspire.
- 30The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisEven when Mr. Coogan can't make his scenes work, his prickly presence keeps you watching, as does the eerie scenes of winter that Mr. Glatzer captures with the camera.
- 30Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesThe thesis-driven story precludes much dramatic discovery, and the looming shuttle disaster only exacerbates the sense of heavy-handedness.
- 20VarietyBrian LowryVarietyBrian LowryA pointless and pretentious drama.
- 20New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanGlatzer's self-consciously quirky indie is misguided on every level.
- 10The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterA turgid mess of a film that has a lot of ideas on its mind, none of which prove very interesting or in fact coherent.
- Glatzer aims to wring laughter out of this desperation but succeeds only in producing a series of contrived characters and situations that make "The Breakfast Club" look like an unfiltered documentary.
- 0Village VoiceVillage VoiceThis is rock bottom: I've seen a lot of terrible movies in the line of duty, but What Goes Up might be the only genuinely unreleasable one.
- 0Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNothing in this movie is properly focused; everyone keeps talking about a character whom we never meet and does not matter; the tone keeps slipping around from indolent satire to thudding sincerity, and the Challenger shuttle disaster backdrop is queasy-making at best, offensive at worst.