David O'ConnellUp in the Air
February 1st 2010 04:14
Confirming his earlier promise, director Jason Reitman has followed the award-winning Juno (2007) with another outstanding drama. His latest project has more of a personal touch too; gone is the quirkily quotable, whip-smart Diablo Cody dialogue, replaced by characters he largely shaped himself using Walter Kirn’s source novel as a launching pad. The result is an assured, meaningful glimpse at modern living in an era of corporate downsizing; at the sacrifices of vocation over any internal life, and the awkward meeting of conflicting philosophies, both economic and personal.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is constantly surrounded by a rolling background of strangers who mean nothing to him. Most at home engaging in the minutiae of air travel and its lavish rewards, his occupation is harsh and impersonal. Venturing to every far-flung corner of the country, he gets to inform thousands of workers of their termination, of their eroded value to employers. Bingham is a model of efficiency; he lets them down easily, but in the eyes of a professional doing his duty, the downcast faces blur and recede. In doling out pain on a such a mass scale, he becomes anesthetized to the devastation left in his wake.
Soon, two women enter the frame, jolting Bingham’s life out of its monotonous regimentation. Progressive upstart Natalie Keener (Anna Kendricks), a new recruit at his Omaha-based firm, throws a spanner in the works with her proposal to use internet technology to fire workers. Such an idea is devastating to Bingham, who imagines a life grounded in more ways than one.
At the same time, another perennially airborne worker, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), proves to be a titillating distraction and when their schedules merge, she and Bingham share that perfect arrangement – the casual, no-strings-attached fling. When a mournful Natalie, dumped via text by the boyfriend she followed to Omaha, points out the glaring inadequacies of Bingham’s empty, emotionally-detached lifestyle, it causes an involuntary moment of introspection. Could there actually be more to life than incessant travel, living out of a suitcase, and racking up frequent flyer miles as if it were an Olympic event?
Reitman’s screenplay, co-penned with Sheldon Turner, is a skillful merger of intelligent humour and subtle insights into the psychological make-up of these characters. As a commentary on the occasionally emotionless path of modern living, it also has some interesting things to say and the credible, adult treatment of the issues resonates strongly.
Bingham is a fascinating creation, baseless and constantly in motion in his home with wings; so immersed in human contact and yet so fundamentally alone. Is this all he hopes to extract from life? Natalie's observations provide discomforting food for thought whilst Alex becomes something more - the possibility of adding another incomprehensible component to his existence, as she dangles like a carrot before his airport-blurred vision. Does he dare pause to consider the ramifications of allowing a real connection?
An impulsive invitation for Alex to accompany him to his rarely-visited sister’s wedding in Milwaukee rams home the point home further. Then he’s asked to intervene when his prospective brother-in-law gets cold feet on the wedding day, to encourage a philosophy he’s actively disparaged his whole life. Lights are suddenly going off in his head like firecrackers, but will his radical decision to break free from his cyclical lifestyle bring about success or unmitigated disaster?
Reitman’s casting is spot-on, with Clooney continuing his string of impressive roles in recent years. Exuding a potent mix of charm and world-weariness, Ryan is highly sympathetic, though occasionally forlorn in a way that makes you wonder if his isolation is a by-product of a vocational disconnection or something he truly embraces, burying the bittersweet ramifications into a sub-conscious vault. Either way, he possesses enough ambiguities to ensure we never lose interest in him.
Farmiga, who made a big impression as the lone female of any significance in The Departed (2006), creates impressive consistency in Alex who hides a duality that is never guessed at until the revelations of her final scenes. Kendrick is never overwhelmed by her co-stars, making a great fist of Natalie, the confident, ambitious upstart, full of slick, contemporary ideas, but harboring the vulnerabilities of a little girl lost deep inside.
Up in the Air is an outstanding piece of cinema: mature, insightful, directed with restraint and marked by three great performances. Its greatest strength must be attributed to the first-class screenplay however, with Reitman and Turner seamlessly adjoining their fascinating female characters to Kirn’s original creation of Bingham, ensuring a satisfying and entertaining whole. The use of real-life retrenched workers is a neat touch too.
Watch the HD trailer here.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is constantly surrounded by a rolling background of strangers who mean nothing to him. Most at home engaging in the minutiae of air travel and its lavish rewards, his occupation is harsh and impersonal. Venturing to every far-flung corner of the country, he gets to inform thousands of workers of their termination, of their eroded value to employers. Bingham is a model of efficiency; he lets them down easily, but in the eyes of a professional doing his duty, the downcast faces blur and recede. In doling out pain on a such a mass scale, he becomes anesthetized to the devastation left in his wake.
Soon, two women enter the frame, jolting Bingham’s life out of its monotonous regimentation. Progressive upstart Natalie Keener (Anna Kendricks), a new recruit at his Omaha-based firm, throws a spanner in the works with her proposal to use internet technology to fire workers. Such an idea is devastating to Bingham, who imagines a life grounded in more ways than one.
At the same time, another perennially airborne worker, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), proves to be a titillating distraction and when their schedules merge, she and Bingham share that perfect arrangement – the casual, no-strings-attached fling. When a mournful Natalie, dumped via text by the boyfriend she followed to Omaha, points out the glaring inadequacies of Bingham’s empty, emotionally-detached lifestyle, it causes an involuntary moment of introspection. Could there actually be more to life than incessant travel, living out of a suitcase, and racking up frequent flyer miles as if it were an Olympic event?
Reitman’s screenplay, co-penned with Sheldon Turner, is a skillful merger of intelligent humour and subtle insights into the psychological make-up of these characters. As a commentary on the occasionally emotionless path of modern living, it also has some interesting things to say and the credible, adult treatment of the issues resonates strongly.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga)
Bingham is a fascinating creation, baseless and constantly in motion in his home with wings; so immersed in human contact and yet so fundamentally alone. Is this all he hopes to extract from life? Natalie's observations provide discomforting food for thought whilst Alex becomes something more - the possibility of adding another incomprehensible component to his existence, as she dangles like a carrot before his airport-blurred vision. Does he dare pause to consider the ramifications of allowing a real connection?
An impulsive invitation for Alex to accompany him to his rarely-visited sister’s wedding in Milwaukee rams home the point home further. Then he’s asked to intervene when his prospective brother-in-law gets cold feet on the wedding day, to encourage a philosophy he’s actively disparaged his whole life. Lights are suddenly going off in his head like firecrackers, but will his radical decision to break free from his cyclical lifestyle bring about success or unmitigated disaster?
Reitman’s casting is spot-on, with Clooney continuing his string of impressive roles in recent years. Exuding a potent mix of charm and world-weariness, Ryan is highly sympathetic, though occasionally forlorn in a way that makes you wonder if his isolation is a by-product of a vocational disconnection or something he truly embraces, burying the bittersweet ramifications into a sub-conscious vault. Either way, he possesses enough ambiguities to ensure we never lose interest in him.
Natalie (Anna Kendrick) with Ryan
Farmiga, who made a big impression as the lone female of any significance in The Departed (2006), creates impressive consistency in Alex who hides a duality that is never guessed at until the revelations of her final scenes. Kendrick is never overwhelmed by her co-stars, making a great fist of Natalie, the confident, ambitious upstart, full of slick, contemporary ideas, but harboring the vulnerabilities of a little girl lost deep inside.
Up in the Air is an outstanding piece of cinema: mature, insightful, directed with restraint and marked by three great performances. Its greatest strength must be attributed to the first-class screenplay however, with Reitman and Turner seamlessly adjoining their fascinating female characters to Kirn’s original creation of Bingham, ensuring a satisfying and entertaining whole. The use of real-life retrenched workers is a neat touch too.
Watch the HD trailer here.
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Comment by Matt Shea
I think you already know my thoughts on this - strong, but not quite the piece of brilliance some have touted it to be. Bingham, to me, needed just one more shade of depth to his character to drive home the importance of his story, and the real-life retrenched montage took me out of the film a little bit.
But all the players are great and I'm thankful Reitman had a hand in writing this one himself - not really a fan of Cody's work on Juno.
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Matt Shea
Haha - indeed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it - it just would've been better with Arnie in the central role.
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
I loved this movie but I would categorise it as a dark comedy rather than a drama. How clever the script was to have us openly laugh at some of the harshest moments in the movie.
I think I could see this one over and over again.
Good review David, although I don't think I would have wanted to know that much if I hadn't already seen it. At least I had.
Comment by Matt Shea
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Believe me, you're not the first person to accuse me of spilling too much of the plot either, this invariably happens when my word count is exceeded and I run amuk with my reviewing!
And you're spot on too Janet - this is more a 'dramady', as they say, than a drama but I think it's underlying tone is pretty serious in the end. Fantastic film either way.
Comment by quatro
Secret Writers Business
I might want to watch it. Clooney is a polished performer.
Don't you think?
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I was really impressed with Farmiga's performance in this (of the Oscar noms hers was the best) and the writing was near faultless.
A rewarding film that deserved the love it received. That being said I still think Thank You For Smoking was superior for Reitman.