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''5 Flights Up'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''Ruth & Alex'') is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by
Richard Loncraine Richard Loncraine (born 20 October 1946) is a British film and television director. Loncraine was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing i ...
, written by Charlie Peters, and starring Morgan Freeman and
Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (''née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Glo ...
. The film is based on the novel ''Heroic Measures'' by Jill Ciment. It was released on May 8, 2015 by Focus World.


Plot

Alex and Ruth Carver, an older couple, want to move because living in a five-story walk-up is too difficult without an elevator. Alex is a painter and uses one of the rooms as his studio. Ruth is a retired school teacher. They have lived there so many years that it and the neighborhood have become intertwined with their lives. Their niece Lilly is their broker and believes the apartment is worth up to $1M. Three other plot lines develop simultaneously with the sale of the apartment. One is the problem with the Carvers' old dog Dorothy who gets a ruptured disc and the issue of how much money to spend to help her. The second is an ongoing news story about a driver of a disabled tanker truck, a supposed terrorist, on the bridge near the Carvers' apartment. The third is the Carvers looking at new apartments. The vet tells them that an operation costing $10,000 might fix Dorothy's ruptured disk. Alex is against it at first but later agrees with Ruth that they have to do whatever it takes to save Dorothy. After the operation, Dorothy is still unable to move her legs. Toward the end of the movie, while still under the care of the vet, Dorothy starts walking again. In their search for a replacement apartment, Ruth finds one she really likes, and their offer is accepted. However, the sellers' agent wants a deposit cheque that evening or it will go back out to bid. When Alex, Ruth, and Lilly arrive at the apartment to write the deposit, the owners tell them it's not enough. Meanwhile, the news reports that the driver of the tanker has been apprehended. Alex is startled that the driver is "just a kid". Alex does not like the owners' attitude and refuses to write a deposit check. Alex and Ruth leave. As they are leaving, Lilly finds out that the Carvers are no longer interested in selling their apartment. She flips them off and walks away. The film ends with Alex walking Dorothy up the stairs to their apartment in the winter. He sees a young couple moving into their building, similar to when he and Ruth first moved in 40 years ago.


Cast

* Morgan Freeman as Alex Carver ** Korey Jackson as young Alex *
Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (''née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Glo ...
as Ruth Carver **
Claire van der Boom Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire * Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Qu ...
as young Ruth *
Carrie Preston Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967) is an American actress known for her work on the television series ''True Blood'', ''Person of Interest (TV series), Person of Interest'', ''Crowded (TV series), Crowded'', ''The Good Wife'', ''The Good Fight ...
as Miriam Carswell *
Miriam Shor Miriam Shor (born July 25, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her performance in the rock musical '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' and in the 2001 film adaptation of the same name. She later starred in a number of short-lived televisio ...
as Cool lady *
Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...
as Lilly * James Claude Bristow as Larry *
Joanna P. Adler Joanna P. Adler (born 1964) is an American actress, known for her roles in Off-Broadway plays. She won an Obie Award in 1995. In 2014, Adler starred in the second season of the Lifetime (TV network), Lifetime television series ''Devious Maids''. ...
as Boy's mother * Alysia Reiner as Blue Leggings *
Josh Pais Joshua Atwill Pais (born June 21, 1958) is an American actor and acting coach. He has appeared in the films ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (1990), ''Music of the Heart'' (1999), ''Assassination of a High School President'' (2008), '' I Saw the ...
as Jackson * Sterling Jerins as Zoe *
Maury Ginsberg Maury Ginsberg is an American theater, film and television actor. He is best known for his recurring roles as Steven Benowitz on season 2 of ''Jessica Jones'' and Simon White on season 2 of NBC's '' Manifest''. Ginsberg is a graduate of Bard Co ...
as Dr. Kramer *
Jackie Hoffman Jacqueline Laura Hoffman (born November 29, 1960 in Queens, New York City) is an American actress, singer, and comedian known for her one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues. She is a veteran of Chicago's famed The Second ...
as the "Eh" Lady * Euguen Leon as the Russian Homebuyer


Production

On September 25, 2013, production was still in progress with some scenes being shot outdoor near the Myrtle Ave Subway Station in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
with both Freeman and Keaton. On September 27–28, Freeman and Keaton filmed a scene at BluePearl Veterinary Partners specialty and emergency hospital for pets in Midtown Manhattan.


Release

''5 Flights Up'' premiered at the
2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert D ...
on September 5, 2014.


Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has a rating of 46%, based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. 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." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


References


External links

* * * * * {{Richard Loncraine 2014 films 2010s English-language films 2014 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Films based on American novels Films directed by Richard Loncraine Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films about old age Films scored by David Newman 2010s American films