Up In The Air

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List.

Today's review is Up In The Air. Directed by Jason Reitman. Written by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner. Based on the novel by same name written by Walter Kirn.

This time of year historically brings the movie going public a mad dash of films that try to jump on the oscars train. With films like Invictus, Precious and upcoming films like The Lovely Bones and Nine. With the exception of a blockbuster or 2 mixed in you usually get a chance for your brain to recover from a summer full of laser blasts and superheroes saving the world from annihilation. I particualrly enjoy the holiday movie season for the above mentioned reason.

I caught Up In The Air this past weekend and many of the "experts" predict that it's one of the best films of the year. Does it have a chance to win Best Picture against some of the films I just mentioned? I guess it's safe to say that any film has a chance to win that award but I don't see it. That's not to say that Up In The Air is a bad film. On the contrary, it's a wonderful movie made by a very talented young director. It just doesn't have the horses to win this particular race.

The story takes us into the life of Ryan Bingham played by a soon to be Best Actor nominated George Clooney. Ryan spends most of his year flying around America as a corporate hitman, assisting in the termination of doomed employees. On a quest to capture a magic number of air miles, Ryan has his life down to a perfect travel science. That is until technology threatens to make his personal touch obsolete, Ryan is handed young Natalie the creator of said technology played by a talented Anna Kendrick. Natalie's a determined go-getter who's never felt the pressure of face-to-face termination. Teaching Natalie the ropes, Ryan is forced to consider his own solitude when a mutual "relationship" with a fellow corporate traveler, Alex played by Vera Farmiga turns romantic, leaving him exposed to feelings he's spent a lifetime suppressing.

What makes Up In The Air so critically acclaimed is mostly because of it's realism. You instantly believe that the people in this film actually exist and live the lives that they portray. Ryan's a man on a mission that has distanced himself from personal contact which includes his family that barely acknowledge his existence. It's only when he's saddled with Natalie that he learns the true value of company. That's something that I think we all can relate to. Another aspect of the movie that I particularly enjoyed was how it ended. Now now.....You know I won't say what happens, the only comment I'll make is that the end fits the films tone like a glove.

This is of course is by Reitman's design who in my opinion has recovered the magic he had from his debut directorial effort Thank You For Smoking. I thought TYFS was a great film and it was critically acclaimed but very under the radar. His next film Juno was extremely overrated yet it gets all the oscar buzz. It even captured an oscar for Diablo Cody's screenplay which was an absolute joke but that's neither her nor there. Reitman's 3rd time at bat brought us a nice blend of Juno's humor and Thank You For Smoking's grounded in reality feel. This of course is aided by Clooney and Kendrick's performances in addition to a very clever filmmaking tactic that helped the flow of movie.

I promise this is not spoiler material but if you feel compelled to now know what trick Reitman uses I will bold the text so you can skip it and continue the rest of the review.

In several places in the film he shows people's reaction to being fired and what they say, what they do, their facial expressions, so on and so forth. Now you are led to believe that it's a montage of Clooney firing all of these people when in reality Clooney's never in the room. Every person we see fired in the film is not an actor but a real life recently laid off person. Reitman put out ads in St. Louis and Detroit posing as a documentary crew looking to document the effect of the recession. When people showed up, they were instructed to treat the camera like the person who fired them and respond as they did or use the opportunity to say what they wished they had. It was a brilliant idea and it helped capture the true effects of how people feel at their most vulnerable.

OK. "Spoiler" over.

If there was something I had to quibble about Up In The Air and believe me it's a small one. It's the fact that there's that epiphany moment that Ryan feels when he realizes that he truly loves Alex and goes after. What happens next I saw coming from a mile away which dropped the films stock a couple of points. You have to see the movie to find out what I mean. Aside from that Up In The Air was a great film and a pretty good date movie. It also gives your eyes to recover after seeing Avatar, trust me, they will thank you for it.

On the 5 star scale. Up In The Air gets 4.5 stars with a "Worth Every Penny" recommendation. Jason Reitman is very quickly establishing himself as a strong force in the film world while stepping out of his father's shadow. Does this movie have some hardware in it's future? Tough to tell but Clooney and Kendrick have great shots for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively and Reitman & Turner have a good shot for Best Adapted Screenplay.

That's all for today. My next review will be Sherlock Holmes. I'm very excited to see this re-imagination of the classic character directed by Guy Ritchie.

On a personal note. I would like to take this time to once again thank all of you for your support and praise of my reviews. I truly am grateful and look forward to taking the next step in the evolution of The "D" list. Stay Tuned.

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah to all my Jewish friends.

Until Next Episode....."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"