Saturday, September 12, 2009

Review: Up in the Air

Jason Reitman, fresh off the success of his Oscar-winning film Juno, returned to the film festival this year with Up in the Air.  This comedy/drama has an exceptional cast, including George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga.

When Jason began adapting the Walter Kirn novel of the same name six years ago, he didn't realize how relevant the subject matter would be.  Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a "career transition consultant", which is essentially a guy who gets paid to travel around the country and fire long lists of people.  Ryan is good at his job, and doesn't give a second thought to the trail of bodies in his path.  Instead, he concentrates on other goals, like amassing huge sums of frequent flyer miles and minimizing personal baggage.

His mileage goals become threatened by Natalie, a young hot shot, when she convinces management at their "consulting" company to put the kibosh on air travel in favor of firing via video conference.  His personal baggage becomes heavier when he falls for Alex, self-described as "[Ryan], but with a vagina", with whom he has started an affair.  Throw in demands from his family to attend the wedding of his sister, who he admits to not really knowing, and Ryan's world is just all jumbled up.  Will he abandon his road warrior life style for something more?

Clooney is as likable as ever, even if this character isn't very different from others of late, and the rest of the cast give solid performances.  There are some great comedic moments in the movie, and though the third act moves a little slowly, Reitman earns bonus points both for avoiding a saccharin-sweet ending and having Ryan fire people in Des Moines, Iowa.  My imdb rating: 7/10.

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