Movie Review: Up In The Air

On my way to the theater (2 blocks from my apartment) I was debating to myself if I really liked George Clooney. He's always a meta-parody of the role he's supposed to be playing, like he buys into his character a little too deeply. Up In The Air is no different, as it has Clooney playing a jet setter who is just a little TOO comfortable with his role in life; confining his circle to temporary relationships, finding comfort in fake customer service and corporate loyalty. Critics have said that this is a good movie to represent current times, but I find it hard to imagine that someone so well-adjusted yet detached from common humanity can actually exist. It is clear that Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, is a product of brainstorming to create a construction of modern fake values as expressed through advertisement and not based on a real human. Alas, I concluded that I liked George Clooney because he pulls off self-deprecating goofiness with so much charm that it never gets old, even if you see it in every role he plays.

Up In The Air is a tale of Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a corporate axe man for hire who is in constant motion, flying city to city to perform layoffs with his own personal touch. Throughout his travels, he meets up with fellow jet setter Alex Goran (played by an incredibly attractive Vera Farmiga) who is caught up in the same temporary culture that he feels so at home with. The two compare schedules to arrange brief hotel room romps, but you can sense a deeper connection that will drive the story in its later stages. Ryan's perfect routine is interrupted when a newcomer to his firm, Natalie Keener (a not-so-attractive Anna Kendrick), proposes a new way to perform layoffs around the country without all that bothersome travel. When he complains, Ryan is saddled with Anna as his apprentice and he takes off to show her how his job works in real life. A lot of humor is made out of Natalie's ignorance, which leads to scenes that tend to escape from the story, including a guest appearance by Young MC.

If I had to give this movie a rating, it would be a 9 out of 10. That one point would be for the grievances listed above, which would normally count for more detraction, but I am not sold on my own criticism. I appreciate what a movie is; a fairy tale with a moral. Sometimes you need to exaggerate and polarize characters in order to entertain throughout the telling of a story. Kendrick's character, in the same way Clooney's is a hyperbole, is another meta-parody of the brilliant-but-realistically-clueless Ivy League grad. She experiences a number of meltdowns which are comical than they are emotional, but they also frame the growing story between Ryan and Alex nicely.

I appreciated Up In The Air for its bittersweet story that is more bitter than anything. Even if you take out all the brutal layoffs, there are still enough hard-to-swallow interactions that reflect more on reality than the plot setup. They are heavy punches that get heavier as the movie goes. I walked out of the theater feeling a little bewildered and introspective. To be honest, I'm not sure if many people will appreciate the way this movie attempts to dispense its morals. Up In The Air is a harsh mistress, standing above you with arms crossed, waiting for its whippings to sink in. This makes 3 really outstanding movies from director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking and Juno being the other two) and it makes me excited to see his next work.