Movie Review: Up in the Air
Hey, it's ANOTHER review! Wowie! It's like this is what I do! I wasn't quite as enamored by Up in the Air as a lot of other critics, which isn't to say I didn't give the movie a big ole sloppy kiss. I think I mostly struggled with what it was that the film was trying to say and, if I'm being honest, I think this was a case of the flick trying to have it's cake and eat it too. More or less, I think they didn't want to give us a cop-out, Hollywood ending, but if the take-home theme of the film is to embrace relationships, that in the face of economic apocalypses we should take comfort in each other, then I'm going to need to see some on screen evidence, because it sure does look like the message is really "don't count on those either, bub." I'm all for complex themes but not muddled or conflicted ones. It didn't feel like a "well, that's what happens in life" resolution either, mainly because what happens is so obviously contrivances of plot. Anyway, it's a delightful film with another SENSATIONAL performance by Clooney, another downright impressive effort by Jason Reitman, and two insanely talented actresses (Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, who I'm including a picture of so that you learn her face and because she called Omaha sexy in an interview...that will earn you some blog face-time).
Okay, now here's the review:
Let the Reitman In
Up in the Air has the director on the rise
Up in the Air is not the best movie of 2009. It is, however, the movie that best represents 2009.
Like a snapshot packed in a box in the attic or a note tucked inside a time capsule, revisiting writer/director Jason Reitman’s heart-warming/heart-breaking ode to corporate downsizing years from now will instantly transport viewers to a time when bad economic news was the only economic news. If not for a conflicted conclusion that longs to simultaneously question and reinforce the hierarchy of personal relationships and careers, the film would have found itself in the rarest of air.
George Clooney, the last real throwback movie star America has, may be the only man alive who could play Ryan Bingham and not make audiences loathe him. Shallowly seeking to tally 10 million frequent flyer miles, Bingham crosses the country firing folks for a company hired by other companies too weak-willed to lay-off their own laborers. Emboldened by a minimalist philosophy that sees personal relationships as albatross necklaces, he feels no remorse about his occupation. This is not a movie about a downsizer’s repent so much as it is about the peril of personal isolationism.
When Bingham’s fellow employee, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), envisions a cost-saving plan whereby the company will begin firing via cyber-chat, Bingham insists the fresh-from-grad-school lass knows not of what she speaks. Their boss (Jason Bateman) subsequently tasks Bingham with taking Keener under his wing on a nationwide firing frenzy. Along the way, Bingham grows closer to both Keener and fellow frequent flyer Alex (Vera Farmiga), who is so alluring that she entices him to reconsider the pitfalls of personal entanglements.
Clooney is so charming, so downright irresistible that it’s almost too easy to forgive his shallow behaviors and callous dispatching of downtrodden employees, most of whom are played by non-actors who were recently laid off. So too is Kendrick’s uptight, prissy personality so earnestly presented that she’s almost inexplicably adorable. Farmiga ably rounds out the acting trifecta by once more proving that she is unparalleled in effortless sensuality.
The delightfully non-glossy look of the film includes a few shots of Omaha, which is the home base for Bingham’s company, and blissfully toes the line between grainy docu-style and Technicolor fantasy. Combined with a deliberate-but-never-boring pace and a script from Reitman and co-writer Sheldon Turner that finds that rare place between charmingly cute and self-obsessed quirky, the film is only hampered by its take-home message. Reitman and Turner seemingly couldn’t decide between optimism and vengeance, conflicted by the desire to punish those who spurn individual intimacy for corporate coldness and a hunger to reaffirm to audiences the “things that matter in life.”
Ultimately, the real revelation isn’t the movie but the movie-maker. After Thank You For Smoking, Juno and now Up in the Air, there can be no question that Reitman’s name must be added to this generation’s short-list of most-talented directors. It’s almost exciting that this film isn’t quite perfect, as the thought of Reitman still searching for his masterpiece is downright exhilarating.
Grade – A-
Let the Reitman In
Up in the Air has the director on the rise
Up in the Air is not the best movie of 2009. It is, however, the movie that best represents 2009.
Like a snapshot packed in a box in the attic or a note tucked inside a time capsule, revisiting writer/director Jason Reitman’s heart-warming/heart-breaking ode to corporate downsizing years from now will instantly transport viewers to a time when bad economic news was the only economic news. If not for a conflicted conclusion that longs to simultaneously question and reinforce the hierarchy of personal relationships and careers, the film would have found itself in the rarest of air.
George Clooney, the last real throwback movie star America has, may be the only man alive who could play Ryan Bingham and not make audiences loathe him. Shallowly seeking to tally 10 million frequent flyer miles, Bingham crosses the country firing folks for a company hired by other companies too weak-willed to lay-off their own laborers. Emboldened by a minimalist philosophy that sees personal relationships as albatross necklaces, he feels no remorse about his occupation. This is not a movie about a downsizer’s repent so much as it is about the peril of personal isolationism.
When Bingham’s fellow employee, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), envisions a cost-saving plan whereby the company will begin firing via cyber-chat, Bingham insists the fresh-from-grad-school lass knows not of what she speaks. Their boss (Jason Bateman) subsequently tasks Bingham with taking Keener under his wing on a nationwide firing frenzy. Along the way, Bingham grows closer to both Keener and fellow frequent flyer Alex (Vera Farmiga), who is so alluring that she entices him to reconsider the pitfalls of personal entanglements.
Clooney is so charming, so downright irresistible that it’s almost too easy to forgive his shallow behaviors and callous dispatching of downtrodden employees, most of whom are played by non-actors who were recently laid off. So too is Kendrick’s uptight, prissy personality so earnestly presented that she’s almost inexplicably adorable. Farmiga ably rounds out the acting trifecta by once more proving that she is unparalleled in effortless sensuality.
The delightfully non-glossy look of the film includes a few shots of Omaha, which is the home base for Bingham’s company, and blissfully toes the line between grainy docu-style and Technicolor fantasy. Combined with a deliberate-but-never-boring pace and a script from Reitman and co-writer Sheldon Turner that finds that rare place between charmingly cute and self-obsessed quirky, the film is only hampered by its take-home message. Reitman and Turner seemingly couldn’t decide between optimism and vengeance, conflicted by the desire to punish those who spurn individual intimacy for corporate coldness and a hunger to reaffirm to audiences the “things that matter in life.”
Ultimately, the real revelation isn’t the movie but the movie-maker. After Thank You For Smoking, Juno and now Up in the Air, there can be no question that Reitman’s name must be added to this generation’s short-list of most-talented directors. It’s almost exciting that this film isn’t quite perfect, as the thought of Reitman still searching for his masterpiece is downright exhilarating.
Grade – A-
Labels: movie review, Up in the air
posted by Ryan at
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