Director: Jason Reitman
Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Running time: 109 min
Rating: M
**1/2/*****
Clooney's latest obligatory awards contender is a rather bland look at the life of a rather uninteresting individual that consistently fails to deliver emotionally despite exploring the "big issues" of life.
Up In The Air tells the story of Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert who delights in his jet setting lifestyle of travelling around the country firing hapless individuals whose companies could not muster the courage to do the job themselves. Ryan's dream of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles is threatened however by the arrival of ambitious young gun Natalie who has come up with a plan to fire individuals via video conference in order to cut back on company costs. A further threat to Binghams lone wolf existence arrives in the form of his dream woman Alex, a fellow frequent flyer with a similar fetish for elite status. Bingham begins to re-examine his choices in order to ascertain what he really wants out of life.
Bingham is given no back story, he just is the way he is- a selfish human being who has chosen a very solitary existence so that he can be held accountable to no-one. In a job that requires Bingham to bring constant suffering to others he appears unaffected and seems to relish each trip so that he can fulfill his rather empty goal of achieving ten million frequent flyer miles. With the arrival of Natalie on the scene it is hard to ascertain whether Bingham objects to her new "downsizing" technique because he finds it particularly cruel and impersonal or because it will put an end to his cherished existence. His character is not very well rounded and you find yourself unaffected by Bingham's suffering after certain events in the film, after all what has this man done to deserve any sought of happiness? It is as though we are supposed to overlook the fact that Bingham is essentially a selfish bastard because it's George Clooney, after all someone as suave and handsome as Clooney can't be all bad right? Wrong!
Aspects of this film just don't add up. Natalie is supposed to be one of the main catalysts for change in Bingham's perspective on life but it is difficult to ascertain how exactly she achieves this. To think that this rather insufferable, stuffed-shirt could even make a dent in Binghams considerable armour with some rather naive ramblings about life and love is just implausible, especially since Natalie's life doesn't seem any the better for it. Her character is also somewhat of a mess, one minute she is berating Bingham with a speech on the importance of love, relationships and human interaction and the next minute she is launching into a full throttle campaign to enable her company to fire people in the most humiliating way imaginable.
That leaves his love interest Alex. Alex is basically the female version of Bingham, so the fact that he would begin to question his lifestyle after meeting someone who fits into it perfectly is quite peculiar to say the least . His sudden misgivings feel somewhat false and out of the blue.
Like writer/director's Jason Reitman's previous film Juno you are left wondering what exactly the message of the movie is supposed to be? Life is better with people? Nope, considering the characters who do have loved ones in their lives are either miserable, jilted or looking for an escape. It's never to late to change? Nope, considering Bingham consistantly fails to do so. It doesn't pay to lead a selfish life? Nope, considering Bingham appeared to be far happier when he was self absorbed and unaccountable. So it must be.....life can suck? Oh!
The whole film just seems to fall flat, even the scenes where dozens of workers are getting laid off feel emotionally barren. Was it the intention of the film maker to leave us feeling dead inside like Bingham appears to be.
All three lead actors are receiving Oscar buzz for their performances and whilst they are not bad they certainly don't standout as particuarly unique or noteworthy turns. George Clooney is playing George Clooney, nothing different from any other performance he is given over the course of his career. Anna Kendrick is essentially playing Jessica from Twilight with a college degree and Vera Farmiga is good but not great. It is indicative of the lackluster year of films in 2009 that these performances and this movie in general is considered at all awards worthy.
It is hard to take anything but a mild case of depression away from this film, or perhaps the fact that it sucks to get fired. Duh! For Clooney enthusiasts and persons in secure employment only. TWO AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE
Catherine!
ReplyDeleteI could not disagree more! I found this to be one of the freshest takes on the plight of modern life in sometime.
I found Clooney, rather un-Clooney-esque, though i agree Ryan does share many parallels to the man himself.
He is a lost soul, not in love with his job, but with the no-strings lifestyle of fast, efficient service that it affords him. If we could travel like Ryan does, we'd probably like it alot more too!
I think Vera Farmiga is a revelation here, and the conclusion of Alex and Ryan's storyline genuinely shocked me - something that RARELY happens these days. I truly did not see it coming. And i think it serves the film well, because Alex's rejection of Ryan as a full time lover, for the first time signals to him exactly how detached he has become from life.
Anna Kendricks is also lovely, and again i disagree with you. I think she was a huge catalyst for Ryan, if for no other reason than because it showed that no matter how much he wants to be disconnectd from life, he cannot disconnect from life's progression. In other words, everyone gets old, no matter how they live.
My two favourite scenes are the scene where Natalie has broken up with her boyfriend and has that talk with Ryan and Alex and Alex lists the sort of man she wants. And of course the scene where Natalie fires the man who is in the next room.
The low point for me was the subplot with Ryan's sisters. It worked only occassional and seemed overly sentimental for a film that has basically built itself around detachment.
I walked away from this surprised and affirmed.
Mitch