5 Flights Up

An aging married couple (Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton) run the gauntlet of selling their Brooklyn apartment, finding a better one and dealing with their beloved dog's health crisis, even as all of New York is paralyzed by a possible terrorist incident. The script by Charlie Peters (from Jill Ciment's novel Heroic Measures) is lightweight; with any two other stars it might be downright forgettable, but Freeman and Keaton couldn't be forgettable if they tried, and they lift the movie into something tender and almost moving. Adding a dash of urban frenzy is Cynthia Nixon as their niece and real estate agent, while flashbacks sketch in their past, with Korey Jackson and Claire van der Boom flawlessly cast as Freeman and Keaton's younger selves. Richard Loncraine's sure-handed direction is another plus. J.L.