Review: Up In The Air

America is dealing with a sagging economy, the worst job market and history, and a general malaise over the entire country. If there was ever a perfect time for a film like Up In The Air, it is now.

Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is a terminator (no not that kind). Essentially he is brought in by companies to fire their employees; a thankless job if there ever was one. He lives most of his year on the road, firing from city to city for his job. He is the best, and as you well know, business in his department is booming.

However, unlike most people who find life on the road (or more so in the air) often annoying, boring and lonely, Ryan can think of no better way to live. He takes pleasures in the game of security checkpoints or a sense of home when he is greeted the same way by each ticket agent. So when an upstart young girl, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) comes into the company he works for and presents an idea that will take him and his coworkers off the road for good, he is furious.

Trying to prove that what he does not something that can be done over the internet, he begrudgingly takes Natalie along with him to show her what it really takes to do his job.

Up In The Air is going to win Best Picture. I would (And am) betting on it. The acting is too good, the direction too fine, and story too relevant to the present and engaging for it not to.

Reitman knocks both the writing and directing out of the park, and I think we can now put his name up there with the best in the business at making not only quality but endearing stories come to life. The funny thing is, Reitman wanted to make this picture 5 years ago, but couldn’t get funding. I think it would have been a completely different movie then, and I am glad it had to wait until now.

George Clooney is essentially George Clooney in this, which was the best move because the character of Ryan Bingham seems to mirror his personality so closely. However, don’t think Clooney doesn’t show his chops in this, because when he gets his turns to shine he takes advantage. As do too his two main co-stars Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga as Alex, Ryan’s female clone and love interest.

But the gem of the film is the story. I think it has elements that can draw any viewer in and connect with it deeply, whether it be in the economic issues or the emotional and philosophical ones that Bingham goes through. As a 22 year old, I felt surprisingly attached to this character and I would love to hear the reactions of people who are 30, 40, 50 etc. The element of the student/teacher father/daughter interaction between Ryan and Natalie are the heart of the film and I felt hit all the right notes. It’s funny, as Dan pointed out to me, Up In The Air and Up share an alarming amount of themes and ideas and I hope I can get Dan to do a write up on it in the very near future.

Up In The Air is a film that soars* (PUN ALERT), and is easily one of the best films of the year.

Grade: A or ★★★★ ½ (Out of 5)

*There are so many puns to use with this, but I’ll be expecting to be on a poster for the film soon.