What Goes Up - poster

What Goes Up

Release Date: May 29, 2009 (limited)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Director: Jonathan Glatzer
Screenwriter: Jonathan Glatzer, Robert Lawson
Starring: Steve Coogan, Hillary Duff, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, Molly Shannon
Genre: Comedy, Drama
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: WhatGoesUp-themovie.com

Plot Summary: “What Goes Up” is a film about a morally challenged New York reporter, Campbell Babbitt (Steve Coogan), who learns life lessons from a group of dysfunctional students (Hilary Duff, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby) while covering the hometown hoopla surrounding the first teacher in space. Set in the 1980s, this is a poignant look at how heroes are made in a world devoid of heroes.

Upon arriving in the small New Hampshire town, Babbitt decides to call an old college friend, only to discover an apparent suicide. Babbitt gravitates toward his friend’s high-school students in hopes of finding an unsung hero story about a teacher who made a permanent impact on the social misfits of the school. Instead, he discovers the least likely teachers — a group of dysfunctional students – outcasts led by a narcissistic seductress (Hilary Duff), a repressed voyeur (Josh Peck), and a scheming pregnant teen (Olivia Thirlby). In a gradual reversal of roles, Babbitt soon finds himself learning from this unusual group of kids.