Up in the Air 2009 Review
Release Date: December 4, 2009 (limited; expands: Dec. 11; wide: Dec. 25)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: Jason Reitman
Screenwriter: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Tamala Jones, Chris Lowell
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R (for language and some sexual content)
Official Website: TheUpintheAirmovie.com
Review: 9.5/10 rating
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: View here
Production Stills: View here
Up in the Air is a comedy-drama directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking and Juno.) It is an adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name, written by Walter Kirn. According to Reitman, “The movie is about the examination of a philosophy -- what if you decided to live hub to hub, with nothing, with nobody?” Well, what if the “you” was George Clooney? In that case, you would be dressed as dapper as could be, wantonly leaving women in your wake as you fly on to your next destination.
Clooney’s character in the movie, Ryan Bingham, is a man that is hired to fire. He fires people in person so that cowardly company execs don‘t have to. Nervous laughter ensues as we see various people getting fired (including Zach Galifianakis in an unfortunately brief performance.). Further we see how Bingham must then comfort those fired with absurd informational packets that will "help" them through the process.
ingham’s free-wheeling life up in the air is threatened with grounding when a new hire at his company comes up with a savvy plan. At Integrated Strategic Management -- run by a hilariously dead-pan Jason Bateman -- naïve college graduate Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) is entering the corporate world with a lot to prove. She holds her own against Clooney as she introduces a new plan that would fire people over a live internet connection. Never one to back down, Bingham challenges Keener to accompany him on a firing to see what the implications are really like in person.
On that journey, Bingham finally finds his match in Alex Goran (played by the magnificent Vera Farmiga.) The two characters meet in a hotel bar one night and are soon seeing slapping their frequent flyer cards down one upon the other in a funny twist on who has the biggest…..amount of rewards? Goran plays an over-sexed woman who naturally appeals to Bingham’s lifestyle. One of her telling lines to Bingham is, “Just think of me as you...with a vagina.” There’s just one problem though -- Bingham begins to have some feelings for this mysterious lady and his life starts to hit turbulence of its own as he starts to learn that she is not what she seems.
In supporting roles we find Melanie Lynskey as Julie, Bingham’s estranged younger sister and her down-and-out groom to be, Jim Miller (Danny McBride.) In a funny homage to Amelie, the couple sends card board cut-outs of themselves so that others can photograph them in exciting locations. We find that, to Bingham, one of those ”exciting” locales is in front of the St. Louis airport. Such wry examples of observational comedy can be found throughout the film.
Reitman wrote the part of Bingham specifically with Clooney in mind and this is exactly how the film feels. The movie is yet another Clooney vehicle that wants us to root for the guy that has everything but the fifth element…love. There are many themes to be explored in the film, especially the psychological impact of un-employment, the cowardice of technology and the prospect of growing old alone. Ultimately, however, it becomes a character drama that just might have made a good book.
