Natalie (Anna Kendrick) and Ryan (George Clooney) lower the boom in Up in the Air.
Found connections
By Miranda Inganni
As many of the 10.2 percent of this country’s unemployed (the highest rate since 1983) continue their search for employment writer-director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking; Juno) handles this extremely timely and sensitive subject matter in his most recent film, Up in the Air.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, one of the few actors consistently employed) fires people for a living. While he puts up a good front at being compassionate, in reality he is completely detached. This detachment applies to every aspect of his life. He proudly boasts about how few days he spends at home -- no wonder: his sterile, small apartment looks more like a minimum security jail cell than a “home”. When his boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), brings young upstart Natalie (well played by Anna Kendrick) into the fold, Ryan’s isolated lifestyle of air travel, frequent flyer miles, and executive airport lounges – which he so desperately cherishes and clings to – becomes threatened. Natalie has created a video conferencing technology that would allow the company to remotely terminate employees all across the country. In order to prove that the human touch is essential when letting people go from their jobs, Ryan convinces Craig that Natalie should travel with him to see how he handles each individual’s reaction to the life-changing news that her or his services will no longer be required.
As Natalie becomes more and more disillusioned with what the company is doing, Ryan becomes more and more attached to Alex Goran (Vera Fermiga). A female version of Ryan, Alex is obsessed with which car rental companies have the best perks, which hotels have the best breakfasts and how big Ryan’s member-ship, of frequent flyer miles, that is. The two meet when their schedules allow in various cities and airports, playing the perfectly compatible, lustful couple.
Refreshingly, while Ryan learns all the right lessons over the course of this movie, it’s not enough to save him from his plight. Meanwhile Natalie realizes her vision of what a perfect life should be isn’t what will make her happy.
Reitman, who wrote the screenplay along with Sheldon Turner, based on the novel by Walter Kim, handles the story delicately and with maturity. For the most part, the comedic moments are tasteful and adult and the moments that could devolve to mushy sentimentality never do.
On another hand, as the film frequently flies images of the fiscally notorious American Airlines and infamously anti-union Hilton Hotels, one wonders where the loyalties (and Up in the Air talks a lot about loyalty) of the filmmakers resides.
As for all the folks who get fired, with a few exceptions (notably, Zack Galafianakis) they are unemployed, non-actors hired by this production to reenact their reactions, or to say what they wish they could have said, from when they were laid off. While the tragic reality of this country’s economy could have brought this movie down, it manages to stay uplifting.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, one of the few actors consistently employed) fires people for a living. While he puts up a good front at being compassionate, in reality he is completely detached. This detachment applies to every aspect of his life. He proudly boasts about how few days he spends at home -- no wonder: his sterile, small apartment looks more like a minimum security jail cell than a “home”. When his boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), brings young upstart Natalie (well played by Anna Kendrick) into the fold, Ryan’s isolated lifestyle of air travel, frequent flyer miles, and executive airport lounges – which he so desperately cherishes and clings to – becomes threatened. Natalie has created a video conferencing technology that would allow the company to remotely terminate employees all across the country. In order to prove that the human touch is essential when letting people go from their jobs, Ryan convinces Craig that Natalie should travel with him to see how he handles each individual’s reaction to the life-changing news that her or his services will no longer be required.
As Natalie becomes more and more disillusioned with what the company is doing, Ryan becomes more and more attached to Alex Goran (Vera Fermiga). A female version of Ryan, Alex is obsessed with which car rental companies have the best perks, which hotels have the best breakfasts and how big Ryan’s member-ship, of frequent flyer miles, that is. The two meet when their schedules allow in various cities and airports, playing the perfectly compatible, lustful couple.
Refreshingly, while Ryan learns all the right lessons over the course of this movie, it’s not enough to save him from his plight. Meanwhile Natalie realizes her vision of what a perfect life should be isn’t what will make her happy.
Reitman, who wrote the screenplay along with Sheldon Turner, based on the novel by Walter Kim, handles the story delicately and with maturity. For the most part, the comedic moments are tasteful and adult and the moments that could devolve to mushy sentimentality never do.
On another hand, as the film frequently flies images of the fiscally notorious American Airlines and infamously anti-union Hilton Hotels, one wonders where the loyalties (and Up in the Air talks a lot about loyalty) of the filmmakers resides.
As for all the folks who get fired, with a few exceptions (notably, Zack Galafianakis) they are unemployed, non-actors hired by this production to reenact their reactions, or to say what they wish they could have said, from when they were laid off. While the tragic reality of this country’s economy could have brought this movie down, it manages to stay uplifting.
