Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Straight Up

  • 2019
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
3K
YOUR RATING
Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
Straight Up Trailer
Play trailer2:04
1 Video
14 Photos
ComedyRomance

Todd and Rory are intellectual soul mates. He might be gay. She might not care. A romantic-comedy drama with a twist; a love story without the thrill of copulation.Todd and Rory are intellectual soul mates. He might be gay. She might not care. A romantic-comedy drama with a twist; a love story without the thrill of copulation.Todd and Rory are intellectual soul mates. He might be gay. She might not care. A romantic-comedy drama with a twist; a love story without the thrill of copulation.

  • Director
    • James Sweeney
  • Writer
    • James Sweeney
  • Stars
    • James Sweeney
    • Katie Findlay
    • Dana Drori
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • James Sweeney
    • Writer
      • James Sweeney
    • Stars
      • James Sweeney
      • Katie Findlay
      • Dana Drori
    • 43User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Straight Up Trailer
    Trailer 2:04
    Watch Straight Up Trailer

    Photos14

    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Straight Up (2019)
    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Dana Drori and James Scully in Straight Up (2019)
    James Sweeney and James Scully in Straight Up (2019)
    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Joshua Diaz and Dana Drori in Straight Up (2019)
    Dana Drori in Straight Up (2019)

    Top cast

    Edit
    James Sweeney
    James Sweeney
    • Todd
    Katie Findlay
    Katie Findlay
    • Rory
    Dana Drori
    Dana Drori
    • Meg
    James Scully
    James Scully
    • Ryder
    Joshua Diaz
    Joshua Diaz
    • Zane
    • (as Josh Diaz)
    Tracie Thoms
    Tracie Thoms
    • Dr. Larson
    Betsy Brandt
    Betsy Brandt
    • Topanga
    Randall Park
    Randall Park
    • Wallace
    Brendan Scannell
    Brendan Scannell
    • Jerry
    Ken Kirby
    Ken Kirby
    • Craig
    Grace Song
    Grace Song
    • Hilary
    Hillary Anne Matthews
    Hillary Anne Matthews
    • Nicole
    Logan Huffman
    Logan Huffman
    • Darien
    Omar Guazzelli
    • Guy
    Alexis Beckley
    Alexis Beckley
    • Kayla
    Lamar Richardson
    Lamar Richardson
    • Tracy
    Jon E. Darby
    Jon E. Darby
    • Student Director
    • (as Jon Darby)
    Ozioma Akagha
    Ozioma Akagha
    • Katrina
    • Director
      • James Sweeney
    • Writer
      • James Sweeney
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Front Cover
    6.5
    Front Cover
    Dating Amber
    7.0
    Dating Amber
    Closet Monster
    7.0
    Closet Monster
    Fire Island
    6.7
    Fire Island
    The Half of It
    6.9
    The Half of It
    Normal Doors
    7.1
    Normal Doors
    Bros
    6.3
    Bros
    The First
    6.2
    The First
    Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
    6.1
    Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
    David
    David
    Three Months
    6.8
    Three Months
    Benjamin
    6.6
    Benjamin

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      At one point, multiple distributors were interested in acquiring Straight Up, but none of them would accept the film in its intended aspect ratio of 4:3. James Sweeney was instructed to deliver in 16:9, excise 25 percent of the frame. He refused to give up his creative vision and eventually found a distributor who agreed.
    • Goofs
      Although not impossible, the opening conversation between the Todd and Rory (not a give-away because it is literally the opening of the movie) develops from Rory saying Todd might generally be mistaken for an employee based on his putting things (for instance organizing books) in order.

      Todd replied that no, someone mistook him for a Staples employee, asking where the paperweights are, and he wasn't doing anything, just standing there.

      Perhaps it is a dig at Staples employees who just stand there, or a play on the fact that he was not doing anything and was asked about paperweights. Yes, there are decorative desk things they sell as 'paperweights' at Staples, but nobody ever went to Staples to buy a paperweight. Inventing some scenario that didn't happen or joking is out of character.
    • Quotes

      Dr. Larson: Are you sure you're a boy?

      Todd: [pause] Well, I was until now.

    • Connections
      References Have Gun - Will Travel (1957)
    • Soundtracks
      Scoobidoo Love
      Written by Paul Rothman

    User reviews43

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    A different kind of romcom, and it's good.
    If you're searching for an explanation of successful millennial romantic relationships, it might be characterized by bisexuality without sex. If you're searching for an unconventional romantic comedy? that's what writer/director/star James Sweeney offers in the brilliant Straight Up.

    It's a rom-com whose roots are firmly placed in the Howard Hawke's world of His Girl Friday, where sex is a form of screwball comedy banter, brilliantly pop-cultured and offered by brainiac characters who want sex but accept words as more forgiving: "You called me." "No, I didn't." "Yes, you did." "My butt dialed you." "Well, I think your butt knows what your heart wants." You might also thin of the less biting, but still bright, Will & Grace.

    Todd (Sweeney) and Rory (Katie Findlay) meet cute in a library and exchange super-charged dialogue titillating in its wit and emotionally fulfilling like good sex. He is OCD-his whole life is that analytical way-- arranging the books here making her think he's a librarian. He house sits rather than create a home. It's perhaps his OCD that keeps him from a satisfying sexuality, so preoccupied he is with deconstructing life that he misses its joys. He, however, knows he does not want to be alone his whole life.

    The difference between Hawkes' dialogue or, say Wes Anderson's in The Grand Budapest Hotel, is that Straight Up relies on machinegunned words, whereas the earlier screwball comedies come out almost gently from sweet origins in the head with smoother delivery (Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, for example).

    Besides the smart dialogue, Straight Up offers, for the main characters' insistence otherwise, benign almost sexless love, which seems counterintuitive but ends up between the two principals an almost ideal state. Yet both characters long for love, a universal desire the lasts throughout the modern biracial and bisexual modes.

    The comedy lampoons the correctness of our century while it offers a sober commentary on fulfilling relationships that rely on mind over matter.

    Listen up you uncertain millennials, it's the mind that matters
    helpful•19
    4
    • JohnDeSando
    • Jun 30, 2020

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 17, 2020 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Прямо вверх
    • Filming locations
      • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Valparaiso Pictures
      • Particular Crowd
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $16,080
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $4,075
      • Mar 1, 2020
    • Gross worldwide
      • $16,080
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Katie Findlay and James Sweeney in Straight Up (2019)
    Top Gap
    What is the Italian language plot outline for Straight Up (2019)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.