Up In The Air

I saw Up in the Air and was pretty impressed with it.  It had a similarity to director Jason Reitman’s Juno in that it a looks at an issue through the eyes of a fairly normal person during a period in his life that holds some extra drama which causes him to reevaluate some parts of it.  However (minor spoiler alert) his life does not change dramatically throughout the film, though his perspective does.

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a road warrior who flies to different cities around the country doing the incredibly unenviable job of firing people.  He handles it as well as can be by having genuine empathy for the people and giving them as positive a perspective on it as possible.  Reitman makes these scenes, which I feared would be very uncomfortable to watch, bearable because of the humanity, yet directness that Clooney brings to it.  He loves his job, nonetheless, in large part because it keeps him on the road.  He has a high frequent flier status with American Airlines and has a goal of reaching 10 million miles.  He’s worked out every detail of the traveler’s life, what exactly to bring, which security to go through, the hotel and car rental points system, etc.  He loves being on the go and his apartment in Omaha has no color on the walls, barely any furniture or sign of personality. 

Enter Natalie, an up and comer, played by Anna Kendrick, who has discovered a cost cutting measure to fire people over the internet.  Jason Bateman, playing as the relatively soulless manager, likes the idea.  Bingham hates it, both because he loves his jetsetter lifestyle and because he believes that although their job has an unpleasant, element that it does provide the outgoing people with both a little help and can give them some dignity.  Bateman’s character agrees to allow Bingham to bring Natalie along for a trip. 

Bingham shows Natalie the ropes giving the audience a chance to both laugh at her ineptitude as she learns both travel and how to do her job more humanely, but also as she sees that she does not want to sacrifice the personal life that Bingham has.  Bingham loves this job precisely because it removes him from any sense of commitment to others, shown when he impatiently takes a call from his sister.  Bingham also falls for a fellow traveler played by Vera Farmiga, a terrific performance.  The two meet early in the film and things go quite well as they have a lot in common and incredible chemistry.  However (spoiler alert) as Bingham starts to open himself to a relationship, which he had always avoided, he finds himself in for a crushing surprise.  A trip to his sister’s wedding in Wisconsin as he sees the price of removing himself from close relationships causes his perspective to change just enough which sets him up for aforementioned surprise.  He realizes all his actions to give himself a more independent life have actually left him alone.  At the end of the film one senses he will proceed with a bit of regret for awhile but may eventually become even more withdrawn as his one step toward a normal life was slapped down so utterly. 

Clooney is amazing in a part that looks to have been written for him.  He is charming, thoughtful, incredibly well dressed, witty, and has relatively little patience for minutiae of life.  As his starts to reevaluate his life he shows it subtly, the smirk he was wearing gradually decreases and his eyes open a little wider.  While not going too far away from his usual screen persona he has found a character that allows him some depth while still getting to have a lot of fun with the role.  As he gets closer to Farmiga’s character he starts grinning a lot more.  Farmiga is great as someone who is very accessible to him, in large part because she is looking for no more than he is and when her big reveal takes place she makes no apologies with it.  Anna Kendrick as the buttoned up newbie is not quite as seasoned a performer but that actually works in her favor in this film.  I liked the character’s intelligence and her youthful arrogance which eventually develops into a conscience, due to her experience working with Bingham.  Reitman regular J.K. Simmons has a strong scene as one of the laid off employees.  Sam Elliott has an amusing and unexpected cameo which I won’t spoil.

Reitman keeps the film moving along at quite a pace, never spending too much time in any one scene just as Clooney lives his life.  His slightly quirky sensibilities jive well with Clooney’s touch.  American Airlines, Hilton Hotels, and Hertz clearly were sponsors as the film spends a lot time with those brand names (even using Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites).  I do question two things about Clooney airline of choice.  First, even with all his traveling, how does Clooney’s character rack up so many miles with all the short hops (a lot of flights between different areas of the Midwest, few of which are more than a few hundred miles apart)?  Even with bonus miles it would take a LONG time to hit that goal without international travel.  Second, does American fly between all those destinations?  He must be connecting a lot in Dallas and/or Chicago if he flies American everywhere. 

I did like the touch of seeing a lot of different airports.  I travel a fair amount for business myself so I did recognize the St. Louis, Detroit, and a couple of others.  Additionally a lot of the details of the security line, knowing exactly what to pack, and the quick evaluation of hotel rooms upon entering were dead on.  I always try to pack sneakers and exercise clothes for my trips and I noticed that Clooney’s character did not, opting instead to swim in hotel pools for his fitness.  That it a pretty efficient way of doing so, fitting in with his character.

To close out this review I would like to note that a lot of the people who are let go in this fictional film are actual people who have lost their jobs due to the bad economy.  Since Reitman started working on the script several years ago he could not have known how timely his film would turn out to be.  The people apparently were told to respond either how they actually did at the time they were let go or to say what they wish they had.  A resounding theme is that it hurts to feel useless.  Since Clooney’s character focuses on letting them feel some self worth I felt it was particularly poignant. 

By all means, see this film and rent Reitman’s Juno if you haven’t seen it.