Up In The Air

This movie has it's good and bad points. It's a chick flick through and through and although it hints at a darker Cohen Bros kinda edge the philosophy behind Clooney's actions kinda falls down. It's one of these movies which tries to be ironic but doesn't quite get the point. Indeed the I'm a success and a failure has been a lot better done in Buffalo Soldiers [and indeed with a lot more laughs]. The underlying philosophy of Clooney's character is trying to say something but never really out-rightly says it. He's a butterfly relationship and I can walk out any time I want kinda guy. Indeed he teaches this philosophy in the movie but fails to deliver on it. However we're ending up with a love duet and we never do get to hear what he said was indeed wrong, or how the tragedy [as sure the scripting is part of this parcel] ought to have ended.

I guess this movie attracts great reviews as does, "Sex in the city". Unless one looks at the entirety and those who aspire to such garbage we're unlikely to see great movies coming out of Hollywood. Want to watch something that deals with difference and life changes, reconciliation and redemption then rent "Truth" by Hal Hartley. The meta language parts of that movie by far surpass anything even considered in this movie.

If you still give this a 10 after seeing that... well... I guess you can give this a 10.

Before watching Up In The Air I had several preconceptions regarding this film. The first dealt with lead actor George Clooney whose performances, though consistently enjoyable, usually mean you're in for a particular type of film. Secondly came from Jason Reitman who directed indie smash Juno, an extremely over rated if enjoyable romp regarding teenage pregnancy and stilted dialogue. Interestingly both preconceptions were rather misplaced and I'm very pleased to say Up in the Air is a brilliantly enjoyable, yet rather moving movie with Clooney pushing his repertoire into rather unseen territory. In fact it's only when I learnt that Reitman also made Thank you for Smoking (a brilliantly under rated and under watched indie movie starring the always amazing Two Face himself, Aaron Eckart) that the quality and tone of the movie made sense.

Up In the Air follows George Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, who travels all year long on passenger planes firing people (yup his company are brought in to terminate employees so their bosses don't need to do it themselves) for a living. He seems to be a man with great people skills and who loves his work very much. In fact he also doubles as a spokesman when not firing folk to give lectures on why he feels people should live like him (without a real home and with no attached loved ones to weigh him down). However his world comes crashing down around him (excuse the pun) when his company decide to streamline the operation by introducing a new computer system so that their clients can fire employees over webcam.

What makes Up in the Air so good is the slow burn pace and by the time things start changing for our characters we know and care about them so much we laugh and cry with them all the way up to the rather unexpected (I'm not talking IT WAS IN MODERN TIMES ALL ALONG kinda twist here, just gentle not the romantic comedy ending we're so used to seeing) finale.

A brilliant lead performance and some beautiful photography and story telling means I can't give Up In The Air enough praise.

Up in the Air starring George Clooney is billed as a comedy. It wasn't exactly laugh out loud funny but it was an ok film. George Clooney plays a guy who travels for work all the time, and loves it - he doesn't have to commit to anything ever. I watched it on a plane and so was a fairly captive audience, i might not rate it so well if i had paid to watch it. It was fairly cliched and predictable but a nice film all the same. Great for some non-thinking.