Click to enlarge

Ed Uyeshima |
Date: 2009-12-21

As someone who has both laid off staff and a year later, became the victim of a layoff after twelve years with the same company, I had a personal interest in seeing how director/co-screenwriter Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno) was going to adapt Walter Kirn's smart, unsettling 2001 novel. Even though eight years have elapsed since the book's publication, the filmmaker - along with co-writer Sheldon Turner - manages to deepen Kirn's themes in this wry, emotionally resonant 2009 dramedy and make them even more relevant with the pervasive downsizing of corporate America. The movie also manages to surprise even when certain plot turns seem evident before they occur. Initially, there is a veneer of cynicism that makes you think the story will be an abject lesson in the impermanence of life, but instead, it evolves into one man's journey into the heart of the emotional turbulence he had been careful to avoid. Toward that end, Reitman seems to be inspired by Alexander Payne's equally perceptive road movies, About Schmidt and Sideways, films that reflect a similar storytelling style.

The plot focuses on laser-sharp corporate layoff consultant Ryan Bingham, a man who regales in the impermanence of life by traveling 322 days on the road, informing targeted employees that they are about to lose their jobs. There is a necessary callousness in his approach, but he knows it's necessary to be present and honest when it comes to conveying the unpleasant news. Bingham is also a motivational speaker who espouses unburdening one's life of possessions and fitting everything essential within the confines of a backpack. Proving his case, he lives in hotels, airplanes, and airport terminals with his one life goal being the seventh person to collect ten million frequent-flier miles. If you can get past the Spartan one-bedroom apartment he keeps in Omaha for the 43 days he is forced to be at home, the hatchet man appears to lead a charmed if rather solitary life. Complications, however, ensue on both personal and professional fronts.

Bingham meets a fellow transient traveler named Alex Goran in an airport lounge and assesses that he may have found his soul-mate, so much so that he invites her to come to his estranged sister's wedding in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Bingham's boss wants to introduce a new strategy proposed by a fresh-faced, post-grad school upstart. New hire Natalie Keener suggests using remote teleconferencing to perform the layoff notifications. Since the new technology is the antithesis of Bingham's one-on-one method, he brings Natalie along on the road to show her how it can't possibly work. In a role that feels custom-tailored to all his strengths, George Clooney plays Bingham with an emotional precision that complements his charismatic persona which pivots between swaggering and self-effacing. On one hand, it's his most definitive movie-star role, and yet Clooney has never revealed as much about himself onscreen.

The always watchable Vera Farmiga (The Departed, Down to the Bone) is sexy and confident as the woman who seems perfect for Bingham, even though their adroit compatibility could not possibly sustain an actual commitment. Their interplay is fun to watch because there is a Cary Grant-Rosalind Russell-level rapport that keeps both on their toes. Anna Kendrick (Twilight) is winning as Natalie even if her character's naiveté feels a bit manufactured at times. Jason Bateman has a field day playing Bingham's smarmy boss, while Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, and Danny McBride (Pineapple Express) plays their accustomed types with aplomb as members of Bingham's immediate family. In cameos, J.K. Simmons (Juno) and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) sharply play two of the victimized employees, but for the rest, Reitman uses non-actors replaying their recent experiences of getting laid off. As usual with Reitman's films, it boasts an eclectic soundtrack that works really well with the storyline.

G.V. |
Date: 2010-02-04

Hard to understand how a movie that manages to make you feel down in the dumps in many instances can have you laughing out loud the rest of the way. Perhaps because UP IN THE AIR is a movie so very full of surprises and complete knowledge of its main subject (I swear the next time I go through security in an airport I'll be looking for the oriental businessmen and avoid babies at all costs).
All throughout the movie I was expecting the obvious conclusion (the firer being fired) and was surprised to get something completely different in return, but even UP IN THE AIR's schocker scene, managed to make so much sense it's hard for me to understand how I didn't see it coming.
There's no question in my mind UP IN THE AIR will be the movie future generations will look back in trying to understand this particular era we live in. It is quiet simply a classic.

Erol Esen |
Date: 2010-03-17

Is Clooney playing himself?...As with all of his other movies, I saw no variation in his acting whatsoever. Perhaps that's why this invariant thespian, with women-certified charm, stands out as one of the leading men of Hollywood. But the screenplay that is Up In The Air is clever, witty, and refreshing to remind the rest of us men what the purpose of life is: to propagate DNA, and ride the ripples we procreate with all their ups and downs.

David Baldwin |
Date: 2010-05-27

In a perfect world we wouldn't need undertakers or IRS auditors or for that matter an employment terminator. In the latter occupation Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) does it so well even if he doesn't particularly like it or dislike it for that matter. To maintain some sense of sanity Ryan engages in casual affairs or keeps a log of his frequent flier miles and takes pride in the comps he's accumulated. With the current economic climate things couldn't be better for Ryan's field. Ryan, however, is at a mid-career crisis. The home office in Omaha wants to keep him off the road by doing internet hook-up firings. At home in Wisconsin he's reminded of the disconnect with his own roots and family. At this crossroad Ryan has some serious choices to make. I found "Up in the Air" to be a piece with director Jason Reitman's earlier effort "Thank You For Smoking" in that Reitman challenges the audience to sympathize with a central character with an unsavory occupation. George Clooney is excellent in suggesting the complexities of Ryan. The real find here is Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener, Ryan's Ivy League protogee. Natalie could have come off as an automaton but Kendrick mines the humanity and humor of the character. Vera Fermiga is alright but essentially her character is the standard girlfriend part. The accolades drawn by the film seem have caused a negative reaction among some viewers. Divorce it from the hype you will find it is an excellent film.

scott89119 |
Date: 2010-03-15

Up in the Air is an entertaining, sardonic, prescient, honest dramedy for grown-ups. It is also among the very best films of the year. It is basically Clooney's vehicle entirely; here he plays Ryan Bingham, a man who is constantly traveling around the country helping companies facilitate mass layoffs and artfully giving employees the bad news. He is sharp and experienced, and if not satisfied in life then subconsciously at peace with it. Enter in Vera Farmiga as his sexy and consistently interesting lover, and Anna Kendrick, as the new kid on the block hoping to revolutionize the "employee transition" process via online video conferencing. The three intersect with eachother in varied ways, each teaching the other deep life lessons in the guise of everyday circumstance and twists of fate. Jason Reitman directs lean, nuanced performances out of the actors, and gives the film a visual sheen congruent to the character's too-structured lives. The film is basically about major life themes of life, regret, love, personal responsibility, and in the subtle ways growing older influences your choices and carves out a path for you different than anything you anticipated. Clooney and Farmiga are as charming as any characters you're likely to see, and the film has undertones of sincerity that quickly make you invested in it and wanting everything to be tied up neatly in the end. Life, however, seldom turns out that way, but Up in the Air serves as a gentle reminder that no one is perfect, and that no one is ever really alone.