With three films under his belt, Jason Reitman has emerged as a director worth getting excited about seeing his latest. THANK YOU FOR SMOKING skewered the tobacco lobby. JUNO put a quirky spin on teen pregnancy. Now during the worst recession since the Great Depression, he brings us a story about a downsizing expert. The fact that he makes us sympathize with him is remarkable.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, SYRIANA) is a veteran of the outsourced downsizing trade. He spends most of the year on the road. He loves it. He's not big on commitment. In an executive hotel lounge, he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH), a fellow frequent flyer who gets turned on by his airline reward cards. But when Ryan goes back to the Omaha office, his boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman, STATE OF PLAY) introduces hot shot recent college grad Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick, TWILIGHT), who has a plan to slash costs by cutting face-to-face firings and replacing them with tele-canning over the Internet. Ryan's way of life is about to end.
But Ryan knows this business and sees the problems in Natalie's plan. So Craig sends the rookie out on the road with the vet to get a first hand feel of how difficult it is to let someone go from their job. On their trip, Ryan brings a cardboard cutout of his youngest sister Julie (Melanie Lynskey, HEAVENLY CREATURES) and her fiancé Jim Miller (Danny McBride, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS) to take faux pictures of them in exotic locations like the St. Louis airport. His older sister Kara (Amy Morton, ROOKIE OF THE YEAR) is constantly trying to get him to commit to coming to the wedding, but he barely knows his family anymore.
In between firing people, Ryan speaks at leadership conferences where he espouses his "backpack" philosophy. He is a man who likes his freedom. Possessions and even more so relationships are things we put in our backpacks that weigh us down. All his worldly possessions, including friends and close family, he can fit in a nice carry-on bag. This is why he's so attracted to Alex – she tells him that she's him with girl parts. They view their relationship as a mature, adult one. Natalie looks at it as shallow. They look at her as naïve. There is a great moment where Ryan challenges Natalie to sell marriage to him, which ends with her in tears.
Based on Walter Kim's novel, adapted by Reitman and Sheldon Turner, the story touches on the de-personalizing of modern society. Most marriages end in divorce. People work constantly. Families and friends interact over the Internet. Ryan sees the value in personal contact when letting people go, but can't translate that to his personal life. He is able to do it because he's constructed a thick emotional shield. Natalie is exactly the opposite, but the film is too good to have her be his impetus for change. Several plotlines come together to counter his burning the backpack theory.
Reitman handles the material with maturity and sensitivity. He understands the characters and allows them to work on the audience. He also has a great cast to help him. Clooney brings likability to all his characters, no matter how despicable they are. That's why the Coen Brothers use his so well. At first we have a love/hate relationship with him; he's so good at his job that you have to respect him. His life might seem sad and lonely, but he's perfected it as best he can.
His relationship with Alex shows his soft side; they seem made for each other. They're cut from the same cloth. Farmiga is wonderful as always. She is a sexy woman when most films only have sexy girls. Kendrick is the opposite of her ditzy TWILIGHT character. She's smart and knows all the right answers by the book, but she's missing the emotional shield that Ryan has perfected. This flaw is in constant conflict with her desire to succeed. It's what Ryan and her have in common.
UP IN THE AIR is one of the densest films of the year. Rich characterizations and nuanced themes make this a complex story. It feels like the film of the moment in its critique of modern relationships. The reason the film resonates so much is that it argues both sides of its theme equally than drops its strongest point at the end. The film closes with a character standing in an airport. It's open ended and perfect.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
