As we had discussed in a previous episode, I had a general distaste for movies that were Best Picture nominees as they seem to be pretentious and boring, much like another George Clooney movie that I did not care for. This movie, much like the director’s previous effort Juno, make me rethink Up In the Air but with reservations.
As we are introduced to Clooney’s Ryan Bingham, we are thrust into his world of constant motion. He works for a contracted firm to break the bad news to workers that they are now unemployed. This job requires frequent traveling to the point that a vast majority of his time is spent in airplanes and hotels. He is for all intents and purposes a voluntary vagrant and he enjoys it. This is all threatened when fresh graduate Natalie Keener tries to revolutionize his industry by telecommuting and saving all of the travel expenses. As Ryan takes Natalie on the road to show her what she is getting into, he meets Alex, another wayward traveler with the same penchant for loose relationships in various locales. As Ryan mingles with the two ladies, he begins to question his life choice to stay distant.
This movie worked well on a number of different fronts. I have never refuted the belief that Clooney is not only very charismatic but a very good actor. Even in his other efforts, even if I did not like the overall film, he delivered a good performance (obviously, Batman & Robin excluded). Even here, this is a character that in lesser hands would have been the bad guy as he is fairly dismissive of family and relationships and also fires people for a living. While the effect that this job takes on him is not really addressed (that is reserved for Natalie), he does not come across as the smug, arrogant asshole that we’ve all sat on the other side of a desk with. His counterpart with a vagina Alex, played by Vera Farmiga, is equally compelling but we are left in the dark as to her story or life before she and Ryan connected.
The real standout though was Anna Kendrick playing the young ideologue. I would argue the film is really her character’s as Natalie is the only one out of the three who really have a full character arc. The script, written by director Jason Reitman, almost cleverly sidesteps the weight that the story would normally carry as it is certainly more relevant now than in the mid 2000s when it was developed. But Natalie acts almost as the moral check to Ryan who has been doing this for the better part of a few decades. The thing that I did not expect was the lack of change for any of the other characters. In a way, you could say their futures are ‘Up in the Air’.
In a typical film, you would expect Ryan to abandon his fleeting ways to settle down with his equal. And while ||| SLIGHT SPOILER IF YOU’VE NEVER SEEN A MOVIE BEFORE ||| that doesn’t happen, the path the characters take lead you to believe everything will end happily with love and flowers and champagne and all of that standard bullshit. Ryan, who also makes a killing on giving speeches advocating the abandonment of family and relationships and anything that might tie you down, does have a slight change of heart especially as he interacts with Alex and his neglected family. And I must say it is quite touching to see two people so isolated from the world other than on airplanes and hotel lobbies get together essentially throwing out the rules and dictates from the past some-odd years of their lives.
So far, so good right? The direction by Reitman was quite good, proving that just like Juno (I haven’t seen Thank You For Smoking) that he can create fairly realistic characters and situations that are quite entertaining. For a movie that is more or less people conversing and reflecting on their lives and their pasts, the film as a whole was quite enthralling. The problem comes from the same place that I had with Juno. While I can see the obvious benefit to this movie as a whole, after watching it I cannot say I have any real desire to see it ever again. Now, to be fair this does not mean I would actively avoid it. But only if I caught it on a midday TNT screening could I see myself watching this film another time.
It is not a bad film at all. It has good acting, good direction, and hell … even Jason Bateman and Zach Galifianakis. But, like Juno, it does not seem to carry any real weight to it beyond it’s seemingly pretentious acclaim. While I feel it tries, the film does not convey the eye-opening undertones of something like American Beauty. I would fathom this is not a movie destined to be highly regarded in the next decade. Like many others before it, it was a good movie for the time but it will fall out of flavor within the next few years. Jason Reitman will still continue to make great movies. George Clooney will still have a very commanding on-screen presence. And, if she can ever get away from that sparkley-vampire series, Anna Kendrick will be one of the great performers to watch in the coming years. Maybe yet another viewing would change this but I can’t say I am really in a great rush to revisit.
Comments
Post a Comment