5 Flights Up (film)

For R&B ensemble, see Five Flights Up (group).
5 Flights Up

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard Loncraine
Produced by
  • Curtis Burch
  • Morgan Freeman
  • Lori McCreary
  • Tracy Mercer
  • Charlie Peters
Written by Charlie Peters
Based on Heroic Measures 
by Jill Ciment
Starring
Music by David Newman
Cinematography Jonathan Freeman
Edited by Andrew Marcus
Production
company
  • Lascaux Films
  • Latitude Productions
  • Revelations Entertainment
Distributed by Focus World
Release dates
  • September 5, 2014 (2014-09-05) (TIFF)
  • May 8, 2015 (2015-05-08) (United States)
Running time
 92 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Box office $2 million[2]

5 Flights Up (released in the United Kingdom as Ruth & Alex) is a 2014 American drama film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Charlie Peters, starring Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton. The film is based on the novel Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment. The film was released on May 8, 2015 by Focus World.

Plot

Alex and Ruth Carver are moving soon and an open house is scheduled for their apartment tomorrow. Their niece Lilly arrives at their apartment and walks through with Ruth and teaches her how to prepare for the open house. She tells Ruth that the apartment could be worth as much as $1 million.

Lilly is very eager in setting up potential buyers for the open house the following day, but Alex is not as excited about it. Alex is a painter and has paintings lying about in his studio, which Lilly has asked him to tidy up prior to the open house. As he and Ruth are discussing the open house, it is suggested they are moving because they are getting older and living in an apartment without an elevator. Just as they are talking, their dog Dorothy whimpers and they bring her to the vet. Meanwhile, the news is showing that a fuel tanker is disabled on the Williamsburg bridge.

After getting a pricey CAT scan for Dorothy, it turns out that she has a ruptured disc in her spine and stays overnight at the vet. While Ruth seems content to do whatever it takes to heal Dorothy, Alex is vocally against spending too much money to treat Dorothy as she is 10 years old. Alex signs a do-not-resuscitate form to Ruth’s dismay and they have an argument on the way home. Back home, Alex tends his small garden on the roof. (Flashback to when he first brought a puppy home as a gift for Ruth to celebrate her retirement). Ruth cleans up the apartment while Alex watches the news. Now the stranded fuel tanker is suspected to contain bombs and the driver has disappeared. Later that afternoon the vet calls and informs them that he would like to operate on Dorothy first thing in the morning, but the surgery will cost $10,000. Alex, seemingly having a change of heart, asks the doctor to do whatever it takes to save Dorothy.

Most of the people who show up for the open house aren't serious buyers. Alex and Ruth perceived them to be rude and critical. Meanwhile, the vet calls and indicates that Dorothy handled the surgery well but had a seizure coming out of it. The news continues to report out on the disabled fuel tanker, now confirmed that bombs are not present. The attention is turned to the disappeared driver whom the media portrays as a potential terrorist. Lilly mentions offhand that the news about the fuel tanker nearby may be negatively influencing potential buyers. A young girl named Zoe chats with Alex in his studio and asks about a painting of Ruth. (Flashback to when Alex first met Ruth. Alex was a painter and selected Ruth to model for him. When Ruth asked Alex why he chose her and not the prettiest woman from the modeling pool, Alex answered that it was because Ruth is real).

The open house ends and a few offers are trickling in but Alex considers them low. As Ruth and Alex discusses the results of the open house, they question why it is that they are considering moving in the first place since they like the apartment and neighborhood so much. They walk around the neighborhood that evening and talk about what to do with Alex’s numerous paintings when they move. Alex believes that no one wants them while Ruth thinks that his friend Larry (who owns an art gallery) could be interested in them and it flashes back to when they were younger and having a similar conversation about Alex’s art while Larry is holding an exhibition for Alex’s paintings.

They have dinner with Larry, his wife, and his son Jackson that evening. Jackson is partnering up with Larry to run the gallery and informs Alex that his paintings are not selling like they used to. Ruth gets into a heated discussion with Jackson about what an artist should paint; whether it is to satisfy the artist or to satisfy potential customers. (Flashback to when she was about to marry Alex. Her family didn't support her marriage because it was interracial and that Ruth ultimately chose Alex over her family.)

The next day, Ruth and Alex go visit Dorothy at the vet. Dorothy is in good spirits but remains at the vet because she is unable to move her hind legs. Meanwhile, Ruth and Alex start looking at apartment listings to move to. They go see a few open houses and Alex repeatedly runs into Zoe and they both agree that these other apartments are not as nice as Alex’s. However, Ruth was really taken in by one apartment and wants to bid on it. (Flashback to Ruth and Alex discussing Ruth's inability to have children. She is upset, but Alex tells her it doesn't matter to him and that he loves her regardless.)

Ruth and Alex decide to make an offer on the apartment that Ruth liked and surprisingly their first offer was accepted. The sellers agent want a deposit check that evening. Alex thinks that they are moving a little too fast and while they are discussing, Lilly walks in indicating that there are several competing bids on their apartment. When they inform her about their offer on the apartment they liked, Lilly gets on the phone with the sellers agent to stall the timing of the deposit check until Alex and Ruth can get firm offers on their apartment. As the offers come in, it appears to be in their favor and it looks promising that they’ll be able to sell it at a price conducive to them purchasing the other apartment Ruth liked. Meanwhile, they get a call from the vet indicating that Dorothy is up and running again.

When Ruth and Alex show up at the apartment they are intending on buying to deliver the deposit, they meet the owners for the first time. It is at this time that the husband and wife indicate that they do not want to accept their offer and want to open it up for bidding again. Upon Lilly verbally threatening them to uphold their end, the news comes in that the driver of the fuel tanker is apprehended. The media is all hyped up and portraying the driver as a potential terrorist while Alex comments that he’s just a kid and didn’t do anything.

Alex gets a sense of the character of the couple that owns the apartment and does not like it, he therefore refuses to sign anything. Alex and Ruth leave. Lilly finds out that not only are they not looking to buy that apartment, but that they are no longer interested in selling their apartment either. She flips off both Alex and Ruth and storms off. The film ends with Alex walking Dorothy up to their apartment in the winter months and sees a young couple moving in to their building, similar to when he and Ruth first moved in forty years ago.

Cast

Production

On September 25, 2013, production was still in progress with some scenes being shot outdoor near the Myrtle Ave Subway Station in Brooklyn with both Freeman and Keaton.[3] On September 27-28, Freeman and Keaton filmed a scene at BluePearl Veterinary Partners specialty and emergency hospital for pets in Midtown Manhattan.[4]

Release

5 Flights Up premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2014.[5]

Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 52%, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "5 Flights Up is a bit of a narrative fixer-upper, but when it comes to watching Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman share screen time, you really can't beat the view."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]

References

  1. ↑ "RUTH & ALEX (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "5 Flights Up (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ Smarp (25 September 2013). "Morgan Freeman in Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY, USA". Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Smarp (25 September 2013). "Diane Keaton in Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY, USA". Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "Ruth & Alex". 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "5 Flights Up (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
  7. ↑ "5 Flights Up Reviews". Metacritic. 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2015-05-31.

External links

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