01/02/10 - Up in the Air

Up in the Air (2009, 109 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/

Here is one of the first big name Golden Globes movies (six nominations) that I check out. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in. The trailer made it look like a drama but it had George Clooney in it so I was also kind of expecting something like Burn After Reading with a little less humor. Okay, really, I had no idea what I was really getting into here.

Up in the Air stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a man whose job is to fly around the company and fire people. He also occasionally gives presentations during conferences and that. Traveling, he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) who becomes pretty much his only friend. When new employee Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) convinces Ryan's boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) that a new system needs to be employed at the company, Ryan takes her out so that she can get experience at really firing people both in person and on her webcam system. Playing a variety of other roles we have: Amy Morton and Melanie Lynskey as Ryan's sisters Kara Bingham and Julie Bingham, J.K. Simmons and Zach Galifianakis as fired employees Bob and Steve, Danny McBride as Julie's fiancé Jim Miller, and finally Sam Elliott as the pilot Maynard Finch.

Easily one of the highlights of the film is the very accomplished talent. Everyone here is a a big name actor it seems. Clooney is amazing in the lead and shows a range of emotion I'm not used to seeing him display. Farmiga is good in her role, too. I liked her a lot in The Departed and she really does well here. The other main actress is Kendrick as Natalie Keener. She's another highlight with a broad range of emotion just like Clooney. The chemistry between each of these people is also palpable as it seems everyone gets along. Then you have the rest of the people I listed above and they're all doing amazing as well. Not very often do I see a movie where I recognize pretty much every person that has more than three lines of dialogue.

Another thing I really liked about Up in the Air was that it was very similar to Catch-22 (the book). However, in this I also think it kind of fell flat. By being like Catch-22 I mean that the movie starts off with some really funny lines and funny settings which slowly turns serious and has actually ends up giving a powerful message. However, in Up in the Air, I never really felt like there was a return to the humor that was established at the beginning. Once the movie got into "serious mode" it stayed there except for rare glimpses that actually fit the story. I mean, at the beginning there was a quick shot fantasy sequence with Steve. Stuff like this never returned. Personally, I felt like some more jolts of comedy could be used, but I can understand the approach the filmmakers took. Maybe "fell flat" was too harsh up above because on the whole Up in the Air does succeed at doing what it wants.

Up in the Air also delivers home its point in a unique fashion. Personally (and perhaps sadly), I found a strong resonance of myself with Ryan Bingham. And as the story developed I didn't like this. But this just goes to show how well created the characters are. Bingham gives his speech on emptying a backpack of all your possessions and to live freely. At first this life lesson seemed cool and a good idea. But then the story develops and you realize just how bad it is especially for Ryan. I really liked how this whole thing was handled and the stunner with Alex Goran being married came as a great surprise to me. Maybe I missed the clues but I was in awe at this twist. And the way Clooney acted afterward made his character all the more real to me.

Another character that was really well written was that of Natalie Keener. At first she naturally comes off as stuck-up and she plays this well. In a good subtle character change she has her hair pulled really tight here but as her character changes and becomes "looser" she lets her hair slip a little, even completely letting it down while partying. Sure this might be basic symbolism and that, but I liked that it was done as opposed to just having her character slowly change. And the whole character's situation compared to that of Ryan's was well done, too, in my opinion. While completely resented by Ryan at first for what she does to his job, he actually later becomes her friend and writes a letter of recommendation for her. And while this might be cheesy and all that, I liked it. It showed progression by both characters throughout the movie.

Overall, I gave this film an 8/10. It really surprised me as to how much this movie made me feel. Each character was really well developed and seemed real. The whole sweeping plot and story was also engaging and so much of this movie was great. But even with all this I'm torn between giving the movie a 7/10 or an 8/10. I eventually chose 8/10 because of how much emotion the film managed to evoke, but overall a lot of little things worked to make this movie great whereas there were still some flaws when I stepped back and looked at the whole thing.