Up In the Air (2009)

Genre

Drama | Romance

Director

Jason Reitman

Country

USA

Cast

George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, Danny McBride, Zach Galifianakis, J. K. Simmons, Sam Elliott, Tamala Jones

Storyline

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flies around the US firing people. Also, he is an accumulator of frequent flyer miles and has a goal: he wants to get to 10 million miles. When his boss (Jason Bateman) hires Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), she comes up with the idea to fire through videoconferencing in order to save money, threatening Ryan's existence. Determined to prove the girl wrong, Ryan takes her on one of his firing expeditions, and his life will change forever. 

Opinion

After the brilliant Thank You For Smoking and Juno, Jason Reitman tried again and... he stroke back. On the one hand, Up In the Air is a sentimental drama, on the other hand is a brilliant, and bitter contemplation of life.

Canadian director Jason Reitman delights us with another masterpiece, and gives us, for the third time, a clear gaze on reality, venturing in the context of crisis, not only economic, but also relational. His choice of mixing actors and people who have actually lost their jobs made the film more realistic, and the impact those scenes have on the audience is stronger.

The writing is very strong, the storyline is smart and well put together, and a lot of the dialogue is memorable. All of the lead characters are wonderful, we get to know them, we like to watch them doing their thing, and at the end we want to see more, and more.

The soundtrack is spectacular, from the opening "This Land Is Your Land" to the closing "Up In the Air", written specifically for the film by Kevin Renick, a guy who recently had lost his job.

The acting is top-notch. George Clooney gives the performance of his career, even better than Michael Clayton's, if you ask me. I think no other actor could have pulled off the role better than he did. He plays Ryan Bingham with that confidence of him, yet this time that confidence is challenged, and he ends up showing vulnerability. Anna Kendrick is delightful as naive Natalie, Ryan's young colleague. Vera Farmiga gives an outstanding performance as Clooney's love interest. Even other actors who spend a few scenes in the film - Jason Bateman, J. K. Simmons, Zach Galifianakis, and Danny McBride - give very good performances.

Quotes

Ryan Bingham: You know that moment when you look into somebody's eyes and you can feel them staring into your soul and the whole world goes quiet just for a second?

Natalie Keener: Yes.

Ryan Bingham: Right. Well, I don't.