UP IN THE AIR
PARAMOUNT
RELEASED 15 January 2010
The phrase ‘job-for-life’ disappeared from the workplace many years ago, and yet it’s still usually a shock to be ‘let go’, even after years of employment. During 2008, unemployment has hit levels not seen for thirty years. So a film that appears to be about unemployment might not seem like the most best idea. Some producer’s going to lose their job over this film!
‘Up in the Air’ isn’t just about unemployment though. It’s actually more concerned with family and the life choices we all have. Unemployment is just a starting point, although a very real concern of the movie, and one that the movie doesn’t shy away from illustrating how devastating and depressing it can be.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) works for a big company who fire people. Although it’s dressed up in some softer, company-speak (as well as never mentioning the word ‘fired’), this is what they do. It saves companies having to do it themselves. Out-sourcing the unpleasantness, a bit like hiring cleaners I suppose. Presumably this line of business does exist, although I can’t vouch for that. So Bingham flies around America, dropping into offices from Omaha to Dallas, and tells employees to read through the details of their severance package, in the politest manner possible (obviously, being told by George Clooney you’ve lost your job would definitely sweeten the pill for many women around the world, I’m sure!) Bingham lives a nomadic life, literally living out of a take-on suitcase (which he’s so good at that he gives motivational talks titled ‘Ryan Bingham - Is that Backpack All?’), and Bingham is also chasing the magical American Airlines ten million air-miles exclusive card, of which only six other people have ever attained. He even spends each evenings’ hotel meal allowance (forty dollars) on extra meals that he won’t eat, just so it adds a few more air-miles to his account. He starts a casual relationship with a fellow frequent flyer Alex (Vera Farmiga), suiting both their busy lives. Bingham does have two sisters living in North Wisconsin, but he rarely visits, although his youngest sister is getting married in three weeks.
Fresh from college, enthusiastic Natalie (Anna Kendrick) brings a radical idea to Bingham’s boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), a video conferencing-style way of firing people remotely, doing away with the huge expenditure of flying people around the country. Bingham argues veriforously that this impersonality just won’t work, and Bateman assigns Natalie to shadow Bingham ‘up in the air’ to see if he’s right.
Although ‘Up in the Air’ starts out as look at the cold way modern industry treats it’s employees, it soon becomes clear that the film is as concerned with what it means to be part of a family, and why anyone should want all the hard work that goes with it when we could all live solitary lives on our own terms. George Clooney is brilliant as the blinkered professional firer, exuding his famous charm with a sadder, more wishful desire as people around him question his lifestyle. It’s a very shallow role, but one which he fills with real emotion, and because of his developing acting skills and that of a sure-footed script, I certainly forgot about movie star George Clooney after the first ten minutes, and was keen to learn more about this Bingham guy. Clooney is one of those actors who I continue to underrate, but I’ve actually really enjoyed his performances recently (The Men Who Stare at Goats, Burn After Reading, Michael Clayton, Syriana).
Anna Kendrick comes from nowhere here (unless you count the ‘Twilight’ movies, which I regard as mere TV teen soap opera really) to absolutely shine as the young, eager college-graduate with all the big (but unfeeling) business ideas. It very much reminded me of Anne Hathaway in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, and her range and fragility underneath the business suit really belied her relatively young movie career. I expect Kendrick to go on to some big roles. Vera Farmiga also plays a really strong, independent woman role, and Bingham’s elder sister, played by ?, has small but memorable screentime as the ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ big sis.
There’s some great aerial photography of cityscapes and farmland in ‘Up in the Air’ (courtesy of cinematographer Eric Steelberg), and director Jason Reitman has followed up his massive hit movie ‘Juno’ with a really thoughtful, pretty dark comedy. Perhaps comedy isn’t quite the correct description, as the laughs in the movie are usually tinged with depressing undertones. It won’t be anywhere near the financial hit ‘Juno’ was, but even without the breakout writing skills of Oscar-winner Diablo Cody, Reitman has picked an extremely intelligent, accessible script by Sheldon Turner and Reitman (based on a novel by Walter Kirn) that comments on far deeper issues than the story of a pregnant schoolgirl.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE