Up In The Air (Jason Reitman, 2009, USA) | ||
Rating M Running time 98 minutes | ||
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Synopsis: Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a cool and detached hatchet man subcontracting to companies who haven't the guts to fire their staff. He has the vocab to pull it off without any negatives. With 322 days of the year spent flying from city to city, he is a loyalty card freak with umpteen frequent flyer miles, and his packing ability puts anyone to shame. When young and ambitious Natalie (Anna Kendrick) joins the company she brings some radical new ideas that could threaten Bingham’s job. He decides to teach her the reality and they fly off together. En route, he meets Alex (Vera Farmiga), his female doppelganger, comes up against family pressures and is forced to reassess both his business and his emotional life.
Jason Reitman (Juno, 2007) and (Thank You For Smoking 2005) is a great director of tales with truly modern themes and this one is a real recession tale of how job cuts can impact on the middle class, He wrote this script with Sheldon Turner, from the book by Walter Kirn. There are some aspects of the book that are missing in the film, but see the film first and you won't be broken-hearted. George Clooney, is truly urbane and fabulous in the lead role, earning and deserving many awards. The story moves along briskly and has much detail you could miss. I enjoyed it greatly on second viewing. The motivational seminar to business people entitled “What’s In Your Backpack?” that advocates keeping life simple materially and emotionally is hilarious and anyone who has attended one of these sessions will relate to it. A film with witty dialogue and modern situations, it has simply perfect acting with all aspects of film-craft suppporting the director's crystal clear vision. There is something in 'Up in the Air' that reminds me of the screwball comedies of past years. |
'Up in The Air' Oscar contender?
