“Up”
*** 1/2
A codger and a kid take us up, up and away in a house carried aloft by balloons in this buoyant tale about aging and adventure, youth and sweet wisdom. Ed Asner and newcomer Jordan Nagai soar as retired balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen and Wilderness Explorer Russell. The multidimensional storytelling by director Pete Docter endears and endures. Co-director and co-writer Bob Peterson provides howlingly amusing riffs as Dug, a dog with a collar that translates his thoughts into speech. Christopher Plummer also stars. PG. 1 hour, 36 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“The Ugly Truth”
**
Abby’s a capable morning news producer who turns dumb and desperate when it comes to men. Mike’s a dispenser of testosterone truths. The truths of this lesser rom-com, starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, are as homely as they are familiar: Borrowing screwball comedy’s battle-of-the-sexes gestures and gussying them up with R-rated language is a sorry commentary on the genre; and female writers (there were three) can serve up empty calories to undernourished female audiences just as cynically as their counterparts do. PG-13. 1 hour, 36 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard”
***
This cheerful, energetic and very vulgar comedy takes place after a failing car dealer calls in a hired gun and his team to move goods off the lot over the Fourth of July. That’s all another way of saying the screenplay moves at a breakneck pace. If a gag doesn’t work, another one is on its heels. There are also countless details about auto sales scams. R. 1 hour, 30 minutes. Roger Ebert
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