Hrebejk's stylish direction and perfectly chosen cast make what might otherwise have been a depressing tale of post-perestroika working class woes into a melancholy, comedic riff on what it means to be European these days.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 8, 2005

For an engrossing, funny, sad, cautiously hopeful portrait of post-Soviet life in Eastern Europe, look no further than Up and Down.

| Apr 29, 2005

The movie asks us to see these people as humans and to forgive them for being human and doing to each other what humans beings do to each other. It's a deeply humane film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 28, 2005

Serious stuff, to be sure, but hilarious touches abound.

| Apr 28, 2005

It manages the neat trick of being both charming and bilious, and its tart points about racism translate excellently into English.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 22, 2005

Hebejk claims inspiration from the likes of Mike Leigh and Woody Allen, and that can be seen in the surety of the characters, brought to life by an able cast that includes former Czech president Vclav Havel.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 2, 2005

Hrebejk wrings real poignancy out of the screenplay's wet rag of fateful coincidences and ill-fated relationships.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 25, 2005

Lacks any formulas or solutions, and is content to show us its complicated characters, their tangled lives, and the way that our need to love and be loved can lead us in opposite directions.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 25, 2005

Pungent and spirited, Up and Down shows us a nation in transition that's not necessarily a nice place to live, but it's certainly worth a visit. Especially at the movies.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Mar 24, 2005

It's been a long time since a movie allowed so many diverse narratives to fold into so unexpected, unified and satisfying a story.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 24, 2005

Its emotional tone may be up and down, but its clear-headed approach has straightforward snap.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 18, 2005

A heady mix of rough and tender characters -- sometimes both at once.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 18, 2005

It's the work of a lively filmmaker with an instinct for illustrating the cruel absurdities of family life.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 11, 2005

With great empathy for human foibles, filmmaker Jan Hrebejk shows that Czechs don't always keep pace with their evolving, post-Soviet society.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 11, 2005

An absorbing look at a country still struggling to adjust more than a decade after the fall of communism.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 25, 2005

The clumsy humor doesn't translate well.

Full Review | Feb 25, 2005

A compelling tale of everyday extremes.

Full Review | Feb 25, 2005

Hrebejk and his screenwriter, Petr Jarchovsky, understand their characters too well to judge them.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 24, 2005

The Czech Republic's nominee for the best foreign film Oscar skips from buoyant satire to domestic melodrama, leaving behind a curious mix of emotions.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 24, 2005

This fluidly paced film, with its keen observation of the confused longing for love, family and stability in an inherently unstable world, nonetheless keeps faith with the Czech genius for holding the tonal line between tragedy and the absurd.

Full Review | Feb 24, 2005