Jason Reitman is on a roll. His first film, 2005’s Thank You For Smoking, is a smart, satirical adaptation of Christopher Buckley’s novel about a spokesperson for the tobacco industry (Aaron Eckhart). Two years later, Reitman directed Juno, the sweet little indie comedy that could and did win over critics and the public alike while pulling in a huge $150 million in ticket sales. Now, the young filmmaker takes another huge leap forward with the new comedy/drama Up In the Air starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.
Based on Walter Kim’s novel, Up In the Air centers around Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a corporate downsizing expert that flies around the country to lay people off from various companies. Living – and loving – a solitary life out of a suitcase, Ryan is on the verge of completing a personal goal: reaching the airline milestone of flying ten million miles. Everything that Ryan needs to live his unencumbered lifestyle fits nicely and neatly contained in his wheel-away suitcase. He is so successful at keeping his life in control that he goes on the lecture circuit to instruct others on how to do the same with their lives. Ryan excels at his line of work, as well as keeping the world around him at an emotional distance.
Change, however, is on Ryan’s horizon. First, he meets Alex (Farmiga), a sexy stranger that, as Alex puts it, is just like him… only with a vagina. The two often cross paths in their constant travels, meeting on occasion to form an on-the-road relationship that threatens to bring some long-absent emotional connection into Ryan’s life.
The other wave of change comes in an upstart twenty-something named Natalie (Anna Kendrick). Natalie is the new employee at Ryan’s company and is of the mind that the job that Bingham and others do on the road can be done just as easily – and cheaper – via teleconferencing. Of course, Ryan disagrees and manages to talk the company’s owner (Jason Bateman) into letting him bring the young upstart out on the road to see what he does and how face-to-face is the only way to properly do it.
Up In the Air is reminiscent of the works of Billy Wilder, Cameron Crowe, James L. Brooks (in the 1980s) or Alexander Payne. The story is truthful and sidesteps the usual clichés associated with this type of film. The characters, for all their pros and cons, feel real and are immensely likable. And for all the smart, often hilarious dialogue the screenplay by Reitman and Sheldon Turner offers, there are moments of drama that help give the movie a strong emotional punch, the latter no doubt fueled by our country’s current job climate and the use of non-actors sharing their own employment experiences. A mid-film sequence where Natalie puts her so-called ‘surefire money-saving’ efforts to the test is one of the year’s most heartbreaking scenes to watch.
Reitman could have taken the easy way out to turn the movie into a schmaltzy, manipulative romantic comedy replete with a forced, moral-heavy message. Fortunately, he does not. The son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman lets the film’s events unfold and develop at their own pace. Reitman places his trust in the strength of the story and characters, and his cast’s ability to bring both aspects to fully dimensional life. There is a confidence and maturity that Reitman displays with this film, elevating him to an entirely new level that will nab him some well-deserved award nominations in the upcoming months.
While I never watched him on E.R. and missed his turn in one of the Killer Tomatoes films (damnit!), I have been a big fan of George Clooney ever since 1998’s Out of Sight. With his movie star good looks, a winning onscreen presence and a huge amount of talent, Clooney has amassed one hell of a cinematic career over the past eleven years be it starring, directing or producing films (I forgive him for those awful Ocean’s Eleven sequels).
As in the superb 2007 drama Michael Clayton, Clooney deftly balances his character’s confidence and flaws to give us a complex, fascinating person. Ryan may have convinced himself that he is living the ideal life, yet it is anything but. It is another fine turn by Clooney that is expertly supported by the entire cast (Farmiga and Kendrick are a lock for Supporting Actress nods). Confident and winning from start to finish, Clooney’s performance will definitely see him in the running for Best Actor again and perhaps even winning.
A fellow reviewer succinctly summarized Up In the Air as George Clooney’s Jerry Maguire. I can see that: each film smartly balances comedy and drama; each has great scripts filled with sharp dialogue and even sharper characters, and both give their lead actors a chance to really shine. For those lamenting the lack of quality movie entertainment for adults, then you really need to seek Up In the Air out. It is easily one of the very best films of 2009.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
