Movie Review: Up in the Air

by Justin Velasquez
December 27, 2009

You don't have to be a cinephile for a film to "speak" to you.  Often the events of the films offer up life lessons that you can take away from the theater.  That's why they are so entertaining and important - they can provide an inside look at any facet of life without violating your privacy or trust.  Every now and then a film comes along that sheds light on and speaks to the lives of many, not merely the few.  For this holiday season that film is Up in the Air.

Up in the Air is a cunning comedy-drama that tugs at a myriad of emotions.  Very much a love story, it is also an examination of the current economical and social climate of today's America.  And in case you have been living in a cave for the past few years, things have not been going so well stateside.

For Ryan Bingham (Academy Award nominee George Clooney), things couldn't be better.  Ryan is a "career transition counselor" which is just a fancy way of saying that he's a corporate axe-man.  Ryan spends the majority of his time on the road traveling from company to company, city to city, and state to state, performing the dirty work of firing employees for bosses who don't have the courage to do it themselves.  During these economic times, where job layoffs are at an all-time high, Ryan's particular set of skills is in incredible demand. 

Surprisingly, Ryan gets a thrill in performing these duties and even more incredibly he loves being on the road all the time.  His self-isolation is quite the setup as Ryan relishes in his anonymity and his most stable relationships are with the various hotels, car rentals and loyalty programs the casual traveler rarely utilizes.

Ryan's philosophies on this lifestyle earn him the occasional gig as a motivational speaker, extolling the virtues of a relationship-free life.  He's certainly a member - practically its founder.  But it's disheartening to see that he may be the only subscriber to this way of life.

Ryan's isolated existence changes when he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga, The Departed).  Alex is beautiful business traveler who, upon first glance, is the female equivalent to Ryan.  They begin a casual affair that only occurs when they can synchronize their flight itineraries.  This plays into Ryan's life philosophy and only gets complicated when Ryan realizes he might be falling for Alex.

Ryan's watershed comes at the hands of a young upstart he's been charged with training.  Anna Kendrick (The Twilight Saga), in a very impressive performance, plays Natalie Keener, an efficiency expert who has found a way to save the company millions by devising a new plan to terminate employees.  This new "firing" method capitalizes on the Internet and cuts down on all the travel.  The art of laying-off is now as easy as clicking on "Send" - but it just became less personable and is every bit as endearing as breaking up with someone through a text message. 

The very thought of being grounded tortures Ryan and threatens his serene transit existence.  But while on the road Natalie challenges Ryan's travel axioms since she believes and adheres to more traditional views on life.  The friction that was once present between Ryan and Natalie rubs away as Ryan begins to reassess his station in life.  All of this happens against the backdrop of a nation that seemingly has no idea what the future holds.

Jason Reitman, the ingénue writer-director behind critical darlings Juno and Thank You for Smoking, has brought forth his most impressive feature to date.  Up in the Air is as funny as it is dark while its honesty both scary and revelatory. 

Clooney, as Bingham, is a delight and is every bit the model of American success.  The problem with his success is that it comes at the cost of others' failures.  Ryan, a man without a midlife crisis (thanks to his outlook on life), suddenly finds himself in the middle of one once he realizes his isolation hurts those in AND out of his life.  Sadly, his relationship with his two sisters is non-existent and efforts to jumpstart that at his younger sister's wedding (Melanie Lynskey, CBS' Two and a Half Men) comes at a time when he honestly needs it. 

If you include his interesting relationships with Natalie and Alex it's easy to point out that Ryan has a large fear of commitment to members of the opposite sex.  But gender issues sit on the backburner here - Ryan is simply a loner with a license to kill... professionally and socially.  Not bad for a man who comes off as very charming and personable.

Up in the Air is an interesting analysis of a man who spends equal amounts of pushing people out the door in both his personal and professional life.  His job provides a getaway but it bleeds into his life until all aspects of his home life become a getaway.  But his (and Natalie's) conscience catch up with him and his change of heart might just be enough to bring him back to a more reasonable reality.

Very much a film for our times, Up in the Air is a very impressive bit of filmmaking that is certainly a highlight in Reitman's young career.

Four stars out of Four