Upperdog

Movies like this can be quite a challenge. Telling several stories that interconnect requires each of the stories to be interesting on its own accord, the stories to have similar themes, yet being different enough to justify including all of the stories. The connection between the characters has to be plausible, and not feel faked. And, maybe most important, it should end as an individual conclusion to each of the stories, and at the same time as some sort of shared thematic climax. Or something to that effect.

In Upperdog, the four characters you follow all have quite different stories, different problems, and different journeys. They are interconnected in a (mostly) plausible way, while the individual stories mostly work as independent stories as well. Some characters are more interesting than others, but they are all different enough that every time you change point of view, it's refreshing. The acting is good, making the characters engaging even in their most unsympathetic moments.

What drags this movie down, is the ending. Not only does it last a bit too long, but it doesn't feel like the end of a thematic journey, but rather a temporary end to each of the character's situations. Some characters falls into the shadow of others, and as the credit roll, you're left feeling that the movie never really came together.