What Goes Up
British comedian Steve Coogan plays a big-city journalist sent to New Hampshire in 1986 to do a story on Christa McAuliffe, but he finds a more interesting story when he meets the “emotionally troubled, overly hormonal” tee
Directed by Jonathan Glatzer
(R)
**
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A jaded journalist finds his own story at a small-town high school.
What Goes Up is a “movie to be endured rather than enjoyed,” said Ethan Alter in The Hollywood Reporter. With its “awkward screenplay” and “amateurish direction,” Jonathan Glatzer’s feature debut turns into a “turgid mess.” British comedian Steve Coogan plays a big-city journalist sent to New Hampshire in 1986 to do a story on Christa McAuliffe, the real-life teacher set to ride the doomed Space Shuttle Challenger. Uninterested in the assignment, he hangs out instead with “emotionally troubled, overly hormonal” teenagers (Hilary Duff and Olivia Thirlby). Glatzer keeps shifting from “melodramatic pathos” to indolent satire, said Manohla Dargis in The New York Times, as if he’s not sure if he wants to make the next Election or American Pie. Still, “there’s some nice filmmaking tucked inside,” and Coogan’s “prickly presence” keeps you entertained. But Coogan and the rest of the respectable cast are worthy of better material, said Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune. Self-consciously quirky and terribly unfocused, What Goes Up goes down as the cruddiest of “cruddy little indie” films.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - November 12, 2024
Cartoons Tuesday's cartoons - judgemental looks, Europe's bumpy ride, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Will Gary Lineker's departure be an own goal for the BBC?
Today's Big Question Former star striker turned highest-paid presenter will leave Match of the Day after 25 years, with BBC head of sport reportedly declining to offer him a contract
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The potential impact of Trump tariffs for the UK
The Explainer UK goods exports to the US could be hit with tariffs of up to 20% seriously affecting the British economy
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published