Up in the Air turns out to be just another predictable George Clooney movie.
Artwork by Anna Becker
Like many great actors and actresses, George Clooney spent 2009 acting in not one, but three movies: The Men Who Stare at Goats, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and director Jason Reitman’s (Thank You for Smoking, and Juno) new movie, Up in the Air. As much hype as it is getting, Up in the Air is one Oscar-hopeful that you can hopefully miss.
Clooney’s latest film, Up in the Air begins on the ground, where an “average Joe” cubicle worker (Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover) is face-to-face with Ryan Bingham (Clooney) who gives him the news most of us dread hearing, especially in our economy’s current state: he’s getting fired. Ryan is professional at firing people, as it is his job. He meets with the people, knowing all their names, tells them how the company can no longer use them, and gives them a brochure to guide them the rest of the way. Ryan is most at ease while commuting, as to him, airports, hotels, and planes are his home. Once introduced to Ryan, I did not see why everyone gave Clooney so much hype for this role; as it is just another predictable Clooney character. If you have seen any Clooney movie, chances are he plays a big-shot ladies’ man leader who loves what he does.
When Ryan is not in the air, trying to reach his goal of reaching 1,000 frequent flyer miles, he is at the main office. Recruited back for an employee meeting, Ryan is introduced to Natalie (Anna Kendrick, Twilight), a young enthusiastic worker who is offering something new to the business: firing workers from computer web-cams. When Ryan hears of this, he is outraged the company would even consider it, as the commuting is to Ryan, the most important part of the job. However, Ryan comes up with a solution: Natalie joining him in the air so she can discover what an important part of the job it is. Like Clooney, Anna Kendrick is also getting much Oscar talk for this role, and I can see why; her performance was as good, if not better, than his.
Traveling with Natalie, Ryan begins to realize that living a life in the air, away from friends and family, does sometimes get lonely. When he meets Alex (Vera Farminga, Orphan), another frequent commuter, Ryan begins to form a relationship, which involves swapping credit cards, and “sexting” via cell phone. As Ryan is showing Natalie how to successfully fire workers, she soon realizes how it is not an easy job, as many of them get really angry and depressed, some even taking their own lives.
While George Clooney’s performance is getting a lot of Oscar buzz, I do not see it as anything phenomenal, as Clooney’s acting is pretty much the same in all his movies. A lot of great actors are able to successfully do any genre, but Clooney I’ve noticed, does the same kind of movies, dramedies.
When I heard Up in the Air was directed by Jason Reitman, I thought it would as great as his other film, Juno. While Juno consisted of a clever story, memorable quotes, and lots of humor, Up in the Air consisted of some comedy, but mainly drama. The story, as original as it was, I noticed, seemed to also commute like Ryan. With a title like Up in the Air, you would think the movie takes places on airplanes and in airports. However, while there were some airport scenes (which were the funniest), they were too short and too little. This movie might have worked better if it was a comedy that was about Ryan’s airport life. Instead, it was a drama (that often got depressing) that was about Ryan’s airport life, but also his job, sister’s wedding, female relationships, and a few other items that did not belong in the air, or on ground either.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
