Up and Down

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Up and Down ★★ Horem Padem 2004 (R)

Overstuffed character drama begins with a couple of Czech low-lifes who are transporting a group of illegal immigrants from India. They discover a baby has been left behind in their truck, which they sell to a pawnshop owner who in turn sells the infant to a desperate childless couple who change their lives (breaking off from their hooligan friends) to try starting over as a family. Then there's a second scenario involveng a man who's visiting his divorced parents for the first time in 20 years (he'd immigrated to Australia). Martin discovers that his dad lives with Martin's exgirlfriend and they have an 18-year-old daughter. This makes for a very awkward family lunch, which includes Martin's resentful (and racist) mother. Czech with subtitles. 108m/C DVD . Jan Triska, Jaroslav Dusek, Petr Forman, Emilia Vasaryova, Jiri Machacek, Natasa Burger, Ingrid Timkova, Kristyna Liska-Bokova, Pavel Liska, Marek Daniel, Jan Budar, Zdenek Suchy; Cameos: Vaclav Havel; D: Jan Hrebejk; W: Jan Hrebejk; C: Jan Malir; M: Ales Brezina.