Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Melanie Lynskey, Danny McBride, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Morton
Directed by Jason Reitman
Rated: R
Run Time: 109 mins
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
5 frames out of 5
Losing your job can be a traumatic experience, but if done with a smile and does it lessen the sting of rejection any less?
With the current state of economic uncertainty and the way so many industries are in a technological social revolution, there are those that are salivating at the conditions and are ready to pounce and make their money. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) works for a company that travels to corporate or large businesses to help them downsize and their soon to be ex-employees transition to life after current job. Bingham is good at what he does and although he encounters a gamut of reactions from the people encounters, he takes the opportunity to promote his side gig of personal motivation. He loves everything about his life on the road, the non attachments of relationships and the perks of the various places he stays.
During one stop in a hotel bar, Bingham meets his female version of himself in Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga). The chemistry is intense and both are content in the status of the relationship. On Binghams next trip is to his corporate headquarters where his boss, Craig Gregory ( Jason Bateman) is excited about a new development that will revolutionize how they do corporate firings. The next generation of firings is to be done via web-cam and is all presented by rookie Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick). With this new technology all the people that normally travel to the companies to do the firing face-to-face, are being pulled off the road effective immediately. This does not fly with Bingham and he goes to his boss to present an alternate solution pointing out the heartlessness in the situation, pointing out that the new star of the company has no prior experience in firings and needs to learn the ropes before they change their entire corporate structure. Craig gives Bingham 3 weeks on the road with Natalie to show her the ropes before he pulls the trigger on making the operation internet based. While out on the road, between his interactions with Natalie and Alex, he slowly realizes that the uncertainties of life, even his own life circumstances are Up in the Air.
Up in the Air bridges the gap on many levels –generational, the frustration with the technology revolution, the lonely and those with long forgotten dreams. Jason Reitman delivers another great film making Up in the Air as Juno for adults. It is smartly written, brilliantly casted and the performances truly touching.
Things to watch for:George Clooney dancing, great cameos by Zach Galifianakis, J.K. Simmons and Jason Bateman. The people being interviewed are people that were actually fired recently from their jobs. Great chemistry between Clooney and Farmiga and Clooney and Kendrick. Great lines and in-your-face moments dished out by Clooney.
Who should see this movie: Everyone.
See it in the Theater or Rent it on DVD: See it as soon as you can because people will be talking about this one.
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