You want to hate the characters in this film. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flies over 350,000 miles a year firing employees at companies whose bosses don’t “have the balls” to sack their own. He’s a work-a-holic loner. The most important things to Ryan: his American Airlines concierge key card, and accruing enough miles to get his name on the side of a plane.
Up in the Air is a comedy that takes itself seriously. It’s a drama that laughs at each uncomfortable situation in which its characters find themselves. Ryan’s boss (played by the always comically flawless Jason Bateman) excitedly embrace’s America’s economic ruin, telling his employees, “this is our moment.” But there’s a ruthlessness Ryan lacks that endears him to us.
A young, recent college graduate named Natalie (Anna Kendrick) threatens his way of life by introducing a more efficient way of letting people go – via internet ichat. When Ryan’s boss orders him to show Natalie the ropes of firing people on the road, the pair jet off across the country. Forced to endure each other’s company, the eager girl full of hope and the jaded cynic learn lessons from each other in ways only opposites could. The characters in this film are so detached from feeling, so isolated – we want them to change.
Ryan’s biggest threat for change comes in the form of a beautiful, feisty female traveler named Alex (thank you, Vera Farmiga). In a film brimming with excellent performances, Farmiga’s is the stellar, stand-out one of them all. The maturity Farmiga brings to Alex is seamless - witty and intelligent. She and Ryan bond over their shared knowledge of rental car companies and trade stories of life on the road, beginning a one-night stand hotel relationship whenever their schedules land them in nearby cities. The two are dangerously similar – unattached incarnate. Perfect for each other.
The honesty of the movie can be found in scenes where we get to see the characters exploring unchartered territory within themselves: Natalie getting drunk and solving her problems with sex, Alex describing her (less-than-perfect) version of the perfect man over airport drinks, Ryan attempting to talk his future brother-in-law out of cold feet on his wedding day. And when the scenes are honest, Up in the Air is a fine example of heartwarming and clever, cynical comedy.
I’d be remiss to ignore giving major kudos to this film’s director. Jason Reitman (who brought us 2007’s Juno) is part of a very small, elite group of writer-directors who have overcome their famous family label to gain respect for their work. Reitman again proves himself worthy of acclaim with this piece, candidly illustrating the beauty in altogether uncomfortable, awkward situations.
This isn’t a movie that crescendos from beginning to end. There is a lack of tension at the end of the film that is settling. Reitman’s intelligent storytelling assumes that his audience can make up its own mind as to whether these characters have changed or not. I have to say that I love films where the catharsis is implied. For characters whose professional lives could be altogether defined as “successful,” how much of what really matters to them is “up in the air?” You’re intelligent. You decide.
-Hillary Smotherman
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