Up in the Air (2009)

UP IN THE AIR has been getting a lot of positive press for being a movie that is completely of its moment. With a plot centered around a for-hire hatchet man who fires people from their jobs for a living, the story is so relatable to today's tenuous work force and skyrocketing unemployment that director Jason Reitman actually hired non-actors - real people - to play the parts of the men and women being fired.

I would agree with the sentiment that UP IN THE AIR is so powerful because it captures the aura of this moment in American culture, but in my opinion, it is for a different reason. I think Reitman has fantastically captured the results of our corporate and digital age mentalities. This is a film about people who struggle to make meaningful and real human connections, who get off on the impersonal details of travel arrangements and customer loyalty perks but function at levels barely above strangers to their families. UP IN THE AIR is what has happened to us, and it's a fantastic film.

I must admit that I didn't want to like UP IN THE AIR, and it's not because of Reitman, who for my money is now three-for-three as a feature film director after the promising feature debut of "Thank You For Smoking" and the Oscar-nominated follow-up, "Juno." Rather, I hoped to dislike the film to have an excuse to complain about George Clooney, an actor with, I feel, very limited range who has done little to flex that range in the last decade, save for maybe "Syriana" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" To see trailers of this film showing Clooney in a suit and tie in alpha male mode is to see nothing new. It's George Clooney starring as himself, same as he did in "Michael Clayton" and a half dozen other films.

But I know now that I sold Clooney short. Perhaps he is our generation's Cary Grant, an actor who will cause frustration for seeking out roles that fit his main persona like a glove and yet seem like the only choice to play the parts he takes. That sure feels like the case here. As Ryan Bingham, Clooney is breaking no new ground, but he is absolutely the perfect actor for the part.

Even if I had been able to keep my guard up against Clooney's charms, there would have been no way for me to overcome my sense that this movie was all but perfectly directed. I got the sense at almost every moment that there was nothing Reitman could have done differently to make the film better. It is beautifully shot and snappily edited to move at a crisp pace. The film is as slick as Bingham's suits and as shiny as his platinum member reward cards.

And then, of course, there's the story. Bingham is a man who enjoys traveling for his job. He spends under 50 days a year at his all-but-unfurnished and non-decorated apartment, and refers to that time as hell, rather than the time he spends away. He radiates excitement in his pursuit of breaking a record for frequent flier miles but balks at a family request to take photographs in various cities he frequents using a cardboard cutout of his sister and her fiancee, a request for their wedding.

The closest thing to love for Bingham is Alex Goran, because much to his surprise, she is basically a female version of himself - a rare woman with no ulterior motives for attachment or involvement. The only baggage between them is their regulation carry-on-sized luggage. But despite the coldness of the arrangement between the two to meet up in hotels as often as their travel plans intersect, there is a genuine affection between them. Maybe they don't love each other, but it's clear that they definitely like and appreciate each other.

Alex is played by Vera Farmiga, a name I suspect you'll be hearing come award season. Sexy but sturdy, Farmiga plays the no drama Alex with a confidence to match Clooney's. Watching the two of them trade lines is one of the film's great strengths.

A foil for Alex and Ryan comes in the form of Anna Kendrick in a spunky, youthful performance as Natalie, a fairly recent college graduate who impresses the company boss (a smarmy, bearded Jason Bateman) with her research demonstrating that people can be fired by video phone, saving the company millions of dollars in annual travel expenses. She is instantly Bingham's nemesis because she is a threat to his very way of life, not just his job. For the bulk of the film, we watch Natalie tag along with Ryan to see how he does his job and hear why he feels that it is the only way for the job to be done.

Natalie, being young and naive, believes that it's possible to find and marry the person who meets all of the criteria a girl writes in her journal. She lacks the experience, both personal and professional, to "get" Ryan and Alex. It is ironic, then, that the only main character who seems capable of genuine human connection is the one who is suggesting that her company should Skype-fire people.

Jason Reitman is starting to show signs of some auteur flourishes, with J.K. Simmons and Bateman showing up again in this film after appearing in "Juno." Corporate world criticism seems to be a favorite Reitman topic, and is indeed the focus here.

I'm not sure that I think UP IN THE AIR has the weight of a Best Picture Oscar-winning film. It feels like a smaller character piece. But the smaller scope and often lighthearted use of humor is what supports the film's greatest gift, the opportunity to observe the behaviors of humans navigating the current corporate world. The lack of meaningful connection in a text messaging society.

Yes, UP IN THE AIR is a snapshot of what's going on right now. And, with any luck, it can act as a time capsule piece years from now, reminding us how strangely we behaved during a time of economic crisis and great personal stress. Maybe then, the comedy aspect of the film will feel like something we can truly laugh at, instead of the current sadness that sits beneath the film's jokes. Whatever ends up happening, I'm sure that this is one of the best directed films of the year, all but perfect for what it aimed to be.

4.0 out of 4