614 reviews
Lack of commitment
Seeing the character that George Clooney plays in Up In The Air reminds me of George Peppard in The Carpetbaggers. If you remember Jonas Cord was flying all over creation in his private plane developing and supervising his many enterprises. Just like Clooney here, Peppard had some deep seated issues about settling down even though unlike Clooney he was already married.
Clooney has an interesting job that really keeps him moving. He works for a firm that specializes in aiding fired workers make a transition. I can testify myself that getting fired can be traumatic. In my case though my firing lasted two months and I went back to my old job and stayed there until retirement.
Clooney's boss Jason Bateman has him going all over the country. He says that he spent only about 43 days in his sparse apartment in Omaha. It really is sparse the various hotel rooms look more homey. But a woman who also spends a lot of time traveling on her job Vera Famiga and a woman who is being trained by Clooney, Anna Kendrick help him see that maybe his life and lack of commitment isn't the best thing for him.
Nor is his stated goal of gaining 10 million frequent flier miles. He spends so much time in the air that all the airline personnel on all the airlines know him on a first name basis. That's one significant accomplishment. Maybe Clooney should have taken up with a stewardess.
The characters are drawn well in this script which got one of several Academy Award nominations, in this case for adapted screenplay. Up In The Air also got Academy recognition for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Clooney, Best Actress for Famigia, and Best Supporting Actress for Kendrick. I thought Kendrick was especially good as the young lady who sees a career treadmill she doesn't like and gets off.
Up In The Air is an intelligent and modern comedy with some characters I think we can all identify with.
Clooney has an interesting job that really keeps him moving. He works for a firm that specializes in aiding fired workers make a transition. I can testify myself that getting fired can be traumatic. In my case though my firing lasted two months and I went back to my old job and stayed there until retirement.
Clooney's boss Jason Bateman has him going all over the country. He says that he spent only about 43 days in his sparse apartment in Omaha. It really is sparse the various hotel rooms look more homey. But a woman who also spends a lot of time traveling on her job Vera Famiga and a woman who is being trained by Clooney, Anna Kendrick help him see that maybe his life and lack of commitment isn't the best thing for him.
Nor is his stated goal of gaining 10 million frequent flier miles. He spends so much time in the air that all the airline personnel on all the airlines know him on a first name basis. That's one significant accomplishment. Maybe Clooney should have taken up with a stewardess.
The characters are drawn well in this script which got one of several Academy Award nominations, in this case for adapted screenplay. Up In The Air also got Academy recognition for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Clooney, Best Actress for Famigia, and Best Supporting Actress for Kendrick. I thought Kendrick was especially good as the young lady who sees a career treadmill she doesn't like and gets off.
Up In The Air is an intelligent and modern comedy with some characters I think we can all identify with.
- bkoganbing
- Jan 26, 2015
- Permalink
A Really Good Flick With One Serious Flaw
- harbor21usa
- Jan 7, 2010
- Permalink
Subjective reality
George Clooney shows something he has never shown before. vulnerability.
Halfway through this movie I considered it an 8 out of 10 and decently spent money. The second half came as a big surprise. George Clooney let go of all his suave and let his eyes show fear and isolation that real people feel.
There were two things going on in this movie. On one end, we were looking at the people getting fired. On the other end, we were seeing the problems with Ryan's way of life. The interviews at the end with the people who lost their jobs explaining that it was family and support that brought them through bad times hit a perfect note for bringing both parts of the story together.
The title of this film literally explains what it is like to not know what aspects of your life are solid, such as a home or a significant other. Everything going on is simply up in the air. One day, what you thought was one way will turn out to be something else entirely.
Best of Reitman's three. Very much recommend it.
There were two things going on in this movie. On one end, we were looking at the people getting fired. On the other end, we were seeing the problems with Ryan's way of life. The interviews at the end with the people who lost their jobs explaining that it was family and support that brought them through bad times hit a perfect note for bringing both parts of the story together.
The title of this film literally explains what it is like to not know what aspects of your life are solid, such as a home or a significant other. Everything going on is simply up in the air. One day, what you thought was one way will turn out to be something else entirely.
Best of Reitman's three. Very much recommend it.
Incredible comedy drama
Up in the Air has great performances from George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick with a great supporting cast. It also has a good combination of emotion, comedy and drama which helps overcome the predictable elements in the third act.
Don't Believe the Hype
- blogandsqualor
- Dec 18, 2009
- Permalink
I'm like my mother, I stereotype—it's faster
Up in the Air
Based on the novel by Walter Kirn, George Clooney stars as corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham, who is hired to help ease the transition of long-term employees to the unemployment line across the country. Taking his job very seriously and loving the 290 days away from home—the only problem with that is the 70 days at home in his empty apartment—his world gets turned upside-down when a young upstart in the company threatens to ground the company to fire people via the internet. Not standing for a change in his life, nor the chance for his life goal of total airline miles to end, ("Let's just say I have a number and I haven't hit it yet"), he goes on a mission to prove how personal his job is and how key a face to face meeting can be to talk down an emotionally unstable person and really do the victim a service in an otherwise horrible moment in his life. Along the way, he and the recent college grad, of which the boss loves due to her budget slashing game-changing idea, Natalie, played by Anna Kendrick, both find out what has been lacking in their lives and how to become better people, opening up to love, heartbreak, and the need to grow up.
Clooney's Bingham is the loner businessman whose only relationships exist from random meetings with attractive females at the multiple airports he frequents. His wallet of plastic has become his lifeblood—credit cards from airlines that accumulate his mileage, hotel status perk cards that let him cut the disgruntled travelers and go straight to the front, and numerous room keys that never seem to be thrown out, causing him to always use more than one before finally opening his hotel suite's door. Detached from his family for years as the brother that exists but cannot be counted on for anything, he contemplates whether he should, or really wants to, attend his sister's wedding—the little girl of the family and someone he should have been involved with after the passing of their father. A series of style cramping incidents for him begins with a phone call from his other sister and the request to take a cardboard cutout of the happy couple, (Melanie Lynskey and Danny McBride, in a role that might actually show some nuance for a guy that usually flies by the cuff), and photograph it in front of famous places he travels to for work "like that French gnome movie,"—I love the Amélie reference. Then comes the threat of being taken out of the air, his home for decades, in order to impersonally let go more people more efficiently; the challenge of taking Natalie on his next schedule of jobs to prove to her why the new system won't work; and the addition of a love interest in Vera Farmiga's Alex, a woman who describes herself to him with "just think of me as you with a vagina"—one of many great lines.
There is a lot of subtlety and intricate weaving of plot lines throughout the story, details and sequences that need to be seen fresh to get the full benefit of the film. What you might initially think is a witty comedy about a jerk of a guy who not only thinks he's better than everyone else, but actually is, that either finds the error of his ways or gets dropped down a peg or two, eventually becomes a tale chock full of heart and emotion. The real success story of the film is a revelatory performance from Clooney who really knocks this on out of the park. He always showed the charisma and chops to play confident and successful, but here is allowed to also branch out and express the pent-up frustration that comes with isolated loneliness, the passion one can have for a job that seems horrible, yet, when treated carefully, is a job to take seriously, and the compassion for humanity on the whole, softening enough to realize that there are people around him that need help besides his laid off strangers, help that only he can provide. The evolution he undertakes is really pretty amazing and I credit Kirn, Reitman, and Clooney for pulling it off with grace and laughter.
Every single actor is unforgettable—even the bit parts like Zach Galifianakis and especially J.K. Simmons as two corporate employees who's jobs have been eliminated. Jason Bateman is hilarious as Clooney's smug boss, fully embodying the take no crap nonchalance he made famous in "Arrested Development"; Farmiga is gorgeous and competent to be able to go toe-to-toe with Clooney in the detachment and power-hungry attitude of flying in style for half a year or more; and, if George's reinvention of character is revelatory, then Kendrick's naïve Natalie is masterful. This girl was top in her class, able to get a job in her field wherever her heart desired, yet settled for this firm specializing in firing people so as to not dirty the workers' real superior's hands. Young and confused about life in the big world of adulthood—set on a plan for marriage and children to occur as though set times on a clock—her eyes are opened to the intimacy and fragility with which a person's mental state can be affected by mere words. When you put them all together, Up in the Air resonates on so many levels; deserving of any praise and accolades to be bestowed upon it. Hilariously funny every second of the way, it is still unafraid to dig into the dark moments of life and treat them with respect and relevancy, going places you wouldn't think it would have the guts to go. You really can't say too much about the film, a top ten of the year entry for sure. Reitman proving to be a force to reckon with and Clooney that he just keeps getting better with age.
Clooney's Bingham is the loner businessman whose only relationships exist from random meetings with attractive females at the multiple airports he frequents. His wallet of plastic has become his lifeblood—credit cards from airlines that accumulate his mileage, hotel status perk cards that let him cut the disgruntled travelers and go straight to the front, and numerous room keys that never seem to be thrown out, causing him to always use more than one before finally opening his hotel suite's door. Detached from his family for years as the brother that exists but cannot be counted on for anything, he contemplates whether he should, or really wants to, attend his sister's wedding—the little girl of the family and someone he should have been involved with after the passing of their father. A series of style cramping incidents for him begins with a phone call from his other sister and the request to take a cardboard cutout of the happy couple, (Melanie Lynskey and Danny McBride, in a role that might actually show some nuance for a guy that usually flies by the cuff), and photograph it in front of famous places he travels to for work "like that French gnome movie,"—I love the Amélie reference. Then comes the threat of being taken out of the air, his home for decades, in order to impersonally let go more people more efficiently; the challenge of taking Natalie on his next schedule of jobs to prove to her why the new system won't work; and the addition of a love interest in Vera Farmiga's Alex, a woman who describes herself to him with "just think of me as you with a vagina"—one of many great lines.
There is a lot of subtlety and intricate weaving of plot lines throughout the story, details and sequences that need to be seen fresh to get the full benefit of the film. What you might initially think is a witty comedy about a jerk of a guy who not only thinks he's better than everyone else, but actually is, that either finds the error of his ways or gets dropped down a peg or two, eventually becomes a tale chock full of heart and emotion. The real success story of the film is a revelatory performance from Clooney who really knocks this on out of the park. He always showed the charisma and chops to play confident and successful, but here is allowed to also branch out and express the pent-up frustration that comes with isolated loneliness, the passion one can have for a job that seems horrible, yet, when treated carefully, is a job to take seriously, and the compassion for humanity on the whole, softening enough to realize that there are people around him that need help besides his laid off strangers, help that only he can provide. The evolution he undertakes is really pretty amazing and I credit Kirn, Reitman, and Clooney for pulling it off with grace and laughter.
Every single actor is unforgettable—even the bit parts like Zach Galifianakis and especially J.K. Simmons as two corporate employees who's jobs have been eliminated. Jason Bateman is hilarious as Clooney's smug boss, fully embodying the take no crap nonchalance he made famous in "Arrested Development"; Farmiga is gorgeous and competent to be able to go toe-to-toe with Clooney in the detachment and power-hungry attitude of flying in style for half a year or more; and, if George's reinvention of character is revelatory, then Kendrick's naïve Natalie is masterful. This girl was top in her class, able to get a job in her field wherever her heart desired, yet settled for this firm specializing in firing people so as to not dirty the workers' real superior's hands. Young and confused about life in the big world of adulthood—set on a plan for marriage and children to occur as though set times on a clock—her eyes are opened to the intimacy and fragility with which a person's mental state can be affected by mere words. When you put them all together, Up in the Air resonates on so many levels; deserving of any praise and accolades to be bestowed upon it. Hilariously funny every second of the way, it is still unafraid to dig into the dark moments of life and treat them with respect and relevancy, going places you wouldn't think it would have the guts to go. You really can't say too much about the film, a top ten of the year entry for sure. Reitman proving to be a force to reckon with and Clooney that he just keeps getting better with age.
- jaredmobarak
- Sep 18, 2009
- Permalink
An engaging drama
This film is about a man who fires people for a living. His world becomes upside down when his job is radically changed by a newly recruited young fresh graduate.
"Up in the Air" is a well made film. The plot focuses on character development and emotional changes of the characters. It is not easy to make characters interesting and memorable, but "Up in the Air" does just that. Both the characters of George Clooney and Anna Kendrick have strongly divergent attitudes and personalities, but they have great chemistry and change each other slowly but surely. How they radically shake each others core belief is engagingly told. I enjoyed watching "Up in the Air" a lot, as it tells an engaging story of self discovery.
"Up in the Air" is a well made film. The plot focuses on character development and emotional changes of the characters. It is not easy to make characters interesting and memorable, but "Up in the Air" does just that. Both the characters of George Clooney and Anna Kendrick have strongly divergent attitudes and personalities, but they have great chemistry and change each other slowly but surely. How they radically shake each others core belief is engagingly told. I enjoyed watching "Up in the Air" a lot, as it tells an engaging story of self discovery.
Bring your own wine
I really liked the movie, it kind of invites you to bring your own wine. There's a lot of probing into modern life and relationships, and it's up to you what you take from the film and what you feel for each of the characters. I was quite grateful for having seen Reitman's Thank You For Smoking (2005) previously, because both movies are really arch in the way they set up people in thoroughly pariah job roles and then get you to warm to them. So it didn't really come as a shock to see Clooney as an HR consultant (Ryan Bingham) whose job is to fire people in redundancy exercises where the management are too yeller, instead it rated an amused and knowing eyebrow raise.
Although a lot of the movie concerns the workplace, the disconnect between the interests of corporates and the interests of society (a link that was present historically in America, but which has been irrevocably decoupled), and how to work in that environment, the interest for me was more to do with relationships. From my male perspective there are some fairly poisonous insights into the female mind (though it may be unfair to generalise), the young Cornell grad Natalie Keener (played by Anna Kendrick) talks about her preconceptions of the man she will meet, the kind of name he will have, apparently the only thing he will love more than her is their "golden lab". The slightly older perspective from Alex Goran (played by Vera Farmiga) is that the man should be taller, should earn more, and come from a good family. To go with the aeronautical theme of the movie, the theatre should have provided some sick bags.
The main theme is, for me, pure Frank Borzage, it's about earning the right to love and be loved. In common with 80 years ago when those movies were being made, it's an onus that only weighs upon the male of the species, which makes the film a little hackneyed.
My favourite ambiguity of the film would have to be the backpack lectures that Bingham (Clooney) gives. He has a whole metaphor about everything in your life, the people, the trinkets, all the stuff you can collect, being in a backpack and weighing you down. He says that people aren't swans, they're not meant to be together forever, that they're actually sharks, who have to keep swimming continually, weighed down by nothing. I think there's an element of truth to both poles, I can see both arguments. I just love going to a Hollywood movie and not having an opinion shoved down my throat.
I had a slight problem regarding the level of realism in the film, I felt that the air-commuter lifestyle that was being shown was over-slicked, like I was watching something of a feather with The Consequences Of Love (or Giulia Doesn't Sleep At Night, two of the great modern hyper-stylised films from Italy). Nothing wrong with stylisation, except that I think Jason was trying to go for a film that had a lot of resonance with Recession America. I felt it was awkward to introduce real-life folks at the end, and also realistic looking termination assessments (or whatever they're called when you can someone), when the actors such as Clooney and Vera Farmiga were just so damned suave, as if from a different universe.
And this is to Claire.
Although a lot of the movie concerns the workplace, the disconnect between the interests of corporates and the interests of society (a link that was present historically in America, but which has been irrevocably decoupled), and how to work in that environment, the interest for me was more to do with relationships. From my male perspective there are some fairly poisonous insights into the female mind (though it may be unfair to generalise), the young Cornell grad Natalie Keener (played by Anna Kendrick) talks about her preconceptions of the man she will meet, the kind of name he will have, apparently the only thing he will love more than her is their "golden lab". The slightly older perspective from Alex Goran (played by Vera Farmiga) is that the man should be taller, should earn more, and come from a good family. To go with the aeronautical theme of the movie, the theatre should have provided some sick bags.
The main theme is, for me, pure Frank Borzage, it's about earning the right to love and be loved. In common with 80 years ago when those movies were being made, it's an onus that only weighs upon the male of the species, which makes the film a little hackneyed.
My favourite ambiguity of the film would have to be the backpack lectures that Bingham (Clooney) gives. He has a whole metaphor about everything in your life, the people, the trinkets, all the stuff you can collect, being in a backpack and weighing you down. He says that people aren't swans, they're not meant to be together forever, that they're actually sharks, who have to keep swimming continually, weighed down by nothing. I think there's an element of truth to both poles, I can see both arguments. I just love going to a Hollywood movie and not having an opinion shoved down my throat.
I had a slight problem regarding the level of realism in the film, I felt that the air-commuter lifestyle that was being shown was over-slicked, like I was watching something of a feather with The Consequences Of Love (or Giulia Doesn't Sleep At Night, two of the great modern hyper-stylised films from Italy). Nothing wrong with stylisation, except that I think Jason was trying to go for a film that had a lot of resonance with Recession America. I felt it was awkward to introduce real-life folks at the end, and also realistic looking termination assessments (or whatever they're called when you can someone), when the actors such as Clooney and Vera Farmiga were just so damned suave, as if from a different universe.
And this is to Claire.
- oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx
- Jan 28, 2010
- Permalink
Breathes New Air...
Director Jason Reitman, that has brought us great Indie classics such as Thank You for Smoking and Juno has crafted his most personal and most effective portrait to date, Up in the Air. The film stars George Clooney, also giving his most intimate and beautiful performance of his career, as Ryan, a traveling "Firing-Man," who plans on racking up as much frequent flyer miles as he can. Completely void of human connection and emotion, even from his two sisters, one of which is getting married, Ryan seems completely content with his choice of living. All seems well until he meets his female version in the beautiful and charismatic Alex, played with sexual force and intensity by Vera Farmiga. At the same time, a change at his job makes him acquire a student, Natalie, played with sensitivity and vigor by Anna Kendrick, to learn the ropes of the business before potentially making a devastating change to Ryan's way of life.
The film, based on the book of the same title, is a moving and witty piece of cinema. The line deliveries given are some of the best liners of the year. The adaptation by Reitman and Sheldon Turner is of beautiful and social importance in today's day and age. There was no better time than now, to bring a film like this to the table. Dana E. Glauberman's crisp and precise editing sets the pace as we travel with Ryan in this beautiful account. Reitman's direction shows he's a force to be reckoned with and should be in full blown force for Oscar consideration along with the adaptation shared with Turner.
George Clooney, who's having one hell of a year along with his other comedic turn in The Men Who Stare at Goats, gains sympathy and emotion from the viewer, which up until now, Clooney had always struggled for. The role is right up Clooney's alley and with humorous strength, conveys the pain and loneliness of an otherwise charming man successfully.
Vera Farmiga as Alex, is a beautiful as she is dark, and as sexy as she is ugly. Farmiga has finally landed the right role that, in her years of wrong place at the wrong time, should land her a first-time Oscar nomination. Never showing her hand, Farmiga keeps and earns your trust, attention, and admiration. It's one of the most divisive and structurally brilliant supporting turns of the year.
Seemingly not playing with a full deck is Natalie, played most beautifully by Anna Kendrick, who portrays brains don't equal smart choices. Kendrick earns your care and concern for the character, as she follows Ryan around and constantly badgers him about happiness and love, she naïvely and courageously shows the tenderest parts of youth in today's world. Kendrick will likely be sitting along side Farmiga at Oscar's ceremony.
Jason Bateman, playing Craig Gregory, the boss in charge, is amusing in a brief but memorable role. Amy Morton and Melanie Lynsky, who play Ryan's sisters, are valuable and sufficient enough to book end a wonderful tale. Danny McBride, an outstanding comic talent to watch, is as good as ever. And finally, in otherwise cameos, Sam Elliott and the great Zack Galifianakis are uproarious in their respective roles.
This could very well be the crowd and critical pleaser of the year. It has what the 2004 film Sideways lacked, the emotional edge. Long after the film, you take these characters home with you and remind yourself of its authenticity in delivery, poise, and premise. Up in the Air is one of the best pictures of the year. ****/****
The film, based on the book of the same title, is a moving and witty piece of cinema. The line deliveries given are some of the best liners of the year. The adaptation by Reitman and Sheldon Turner is of beautiful and social importance in today's day and age. There was no better time than now, to bring a film like this to the table. Dana E. Glauberman's crisp and precise editing sets the pace as we travel with Ryan in this beautiful account. Reitman's direction shows he's a force to be reckoned with and should be in full blown force for Oscar consideration along with the adaptation shared with Turner.
George Clooney, who's having one hell of a year along with his other comedic turn in The Men Who Stare at Goats, gains sympathy and emotion from the viewer, which up until now, Clooney had always struggled for. The role is right up Clooney's alley and with humorous strength, conveys the pain and loneliness of an otherwise charming man successfully.
Vera Farmiga as Alex, is a beautiful as she is dark, and as sexy as she is ugly. Farmiga has finally landed the right role that, in her years of wrong place at the wrong time, should land her a first-time Oscar nomination. Never showing her hand, Farmiga keeps and earns your trust, attention, and admiration. It's one of the most divisive and structurally brilliant supporting turns of the year.
Seemingly not playing with a full deck is Natalie, played most beautifully by Anna Kendrick, who portrays brains don't equal smart choices. Kendrick earns your care and concern for the character, as she follows Ryan around and constantly badgers him about happiness and love, she naïvely and courageously shows the tenderest parts of youth in today's world. Kendrick will likely be sitting along side Farmiga at Oscar's ceremony.
Jason Bateman, playing Craig Gregory, the boss in charge, is amusing in a brief but memorable role. Amy Morton and Melanie Lynsky, who play Ryan's sisters, are valuable and sufficient enough to book end a wonderful tale. Danny McBride, an outstanding comic talent to watch, is as good as ever. And finally, in otherwise cameos, Sam Elliott and the great Zack Galifianakis are uproarious in their respective roles.
This could very well be the crowd and critical pleaser of the year. It has what the 2004 film Sideways lacked, the emotional edge. Long after the film, you take these characters home with you and remind yourself of its authenticity in delivery, poise, and premise. Up in the Air is one of the best pictures of the year. ****/****
- ClaytonDavis
- Nov 27, 2009
- Permalink
Good mix of comedy and dramedy that really makes you think
Up In the Air Movie Review
I finally got around to seeing the soon to be Oscar nominated movie, Up In the Air today. A lot of critics are putting it on their lists for top movie of the year and I will have to agree with them. This is a very good movie. It's funny and witty and has some good dramatic moments at the end that really hit you in the stomach. It's one of those rare movies that is fun to watch and makes you think at the end.
The movie stars George Clooney as Ryan, his job is to travel around the country and fire people personally and hopefully tries to help them move on with their lives. It's an art form that Ryan has perfected over the years and he is really good at it. I will have to warn you not to watch this movie if you have just been fired, because the movie is littered with scenes of people getting fired. Most of the people react in an angry fashion and it's almost comical in way they show these montages. Then there are people that react with a sadness and desperation that really makes you feel their pain. Ryan explains that he spends some 300 plus days traveling and a miserable 43 days at home. Through his travels he gives speeches at different hotels about putting your life in a backpack and feeling that weight. Your different attachments in life weigh you down. So he believes in having no attachments.
Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga play Natalie and Alex in the movie and their characters provide a challenge to Ryan's way of life. Natalie is a young college graduate with big ideas that will change the way Ryan will do his job. Ryan is not happy about this and thus there is conflict between the two. Ryan's boss, played by Jason Bateman, pairs Natalie with Ryan so that Ryan can show her the ropes. Their totally different personalities and philosophies on life clash and these provides for most of the funny and witty dialogue of the movie. Ryan is an older man who is calm and full of confidence in his job and in his life. Natalie on the other hand is young, naïve, and looks unsure of what to do most of the time. Alex is another business room that Ryan meets on the road and has a fling with. During the course of the movie they keep in contact and hook up as much as possible. Natalie seems to be just like Ryan in life only in female form. Ryan enjoys being with her so much is seems that he is reconsidering his whole theory on not being attached to other people. Is it possible that Natalie and Alex can change his whole outlook on life? That's obviously where this movie is headed.
So what is this movie all about? It's about life. Pretty simple but yet very complicated. There are two philosophies on life presented in this movie. There is Ryan who believes that relationships are the heaviest objects you can put in your backpack. Relationships weigh you down in life. There's too much negotiations and compromise that you have to do. You can't be truly happy with all these attachments with other people. As he likes to say, if you are not moving you are dieing. In a way we can see he is right. Relationships can be hard; you have to work hard at it. It's a drag sometimes. The people you are the closest too end up hurting you the most. We've all felt this at sometime in our life. We see in Ryan's life that he has no close relationships. He has no girlfriends, he has no plans to ever marry or have children, he has no close friends, he hardly has a relationship with his two sisters, he fires dozens of people daily and feels nothing for them, and he seems just fine with that. Natalie on the other hand can't help but being attached to other people. She has fond dreams of being married someday and having children. In fact she believes her life is not complete without this. You also see this when she has to fire people. She can't help but feel very bad for these people and can't detach herself from the situation of seeing these peoples lives destroyed right in front of her.
So at the end of the movie you have to ask yourself, are attachments and relationships worth the effort. The answer I came to be is yes, they are. At the end of the day what keeps you going in life. Is it your possessions or is it the love of your family? For me nothing can compare to the love I get from my family and friends. It's unmeasureable.. As they say you can replace your possessions but you can't replace your loved ones. This philosophy is even more evident in this movie when you think about the people who are fired in this movie. They are devastated by this turn of events but they also realize that they couldn't get through it if it wasn't for their family. You can lose everything but as long as you have a family to go home to you can be happy, you can have hope for the future. Without these relationships you are alone and have no one to help you through the bad times. So I would think about your own life and be grateful for all the people in it.
Grade- B
Rated R- Lots of use of the F-word and other cuss words through out the movie, 2 seconds of nudity of Vera Farmiga, lots of sexual innuendo and vulgar talk between George Clooney and Vera Farmiga.
I finally got around to seeing the soon to be Oscar nominated movie, Up In the Air today. A lot of critics are putting it on their lists for top movie of the year and I will have to agree with them. This is a very good movie. It's funny and witty and has some good dramatic moments at the end that really hit you in the stomach. It's one of those rare movies that is fun to watch and makes you think at the end.
The movie stars George Clooney as Ryan, his job is to travel around the country and fire people personally and hopefully tries to help them move on with their lives. It's an art form that Ryan has perfected over the years and he is really good at it. I will have to warn you not to watch this movie if you have just been fired, because the movie is littered with scenes of people getting fired. Most of the people react in an angry fashion and it's almost comical in way they show these montages. Then there are people that react with a sadness and desperation that really makes you feel their pain. Ryan explains that he spends some 300 plus days traveling and a miserable 43 days at home. Through his travels he gives speeches at different hotels about putting your life in a backpack and feeling that weight. Your different attachments in life weigh you down. So he believes in having no attachments.
Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga play Natalie and Alex in the movie and their characters provide a challenge to Ryan's way of life. Natalie is a young college graduate with big ideas that will change the way Ryan will do his job. Ryan is not happy about this and thus there is conflict between the two. Ryan's boss, played by Jason Bateman, pairs Natalie with Ryan so that Ryan can show her the ropes. Their totally different personalities and philosophies on life clash and these provides for most of the funny and witty dialogue of the movie. Ryan is an older man who is calm and full of confidence in his job and in his life. Natalie on the other hand is young, naïve, and looks unsure of what to do most of the time. Alex is another business room that Ryan meets on the road and has a fling with. During the course of the movie they keep in contact and hook up as much as possible. Natalie seems to be just like Ryan in life only in female form. Ryan enjoys being with her so much is seems that he is reconsidering his whole theory on not being attached to other people. Is it possible that Natalie and Alex can change his whole outlook on life? That's obviously where this movie is headed.
So what is this movie all about? It's about life. Pretty simple but yet very complicated. There are two philosophies on life presented in this movie. There is Ryan who believes that relationships are the heaviest objects you can put in your backpack. Relationships weigh you down in life. There's too much negotiations and compromise that you have to do. You can't be truly happy with all these attachments with other people. As he likes to say, if you are not moving you are dieing. In a way we can see he is right. Relationships can be hard; you have to work hard at it. It's a drag sometimes. The people you are the closest too end up hurting you the most. We've all felt this at sometime in our life. We see in Ryan's life that he has no close relationships. He has no girlfriends, he has no plans to ever marry or have children, he has no close friends, he hardly has a relationship with his two sisters, he fires dozens of people daily and feels nothing for them, and he seems just fine with that. Natalie on the other hand can't help but being attached to other people. She has fond dreams of being married someday and having children. In fact she believes her life is not complete without this. You also see this when she has to fire people. She can't help but feel very bad for these people and can't detach herself from the situation of seeing these peoples lives destroyed right in front of her.
So at the end of the movie you have to ask yourself, are attachments and relationships worth the effort. The answer I came to be is yes, they are. At the end of the day what keeps you going in life. Is it your possessions or is it the love of your family? For me nothing can compare to the love I get from my family and friends. It's unmeasureable.. As they say you can replace your possessions but you can't replace your loved ones. This philosophy is even more evident in this movie when you think about the people who are fired in this movie. They are devastated by this turn of events but they also realize that they couldn't get through it if it wasn't for their family. You can lose everything but as long as you have a family to go home to you can be happy, you can have hope for the future. Without these relationships you are alone and have no one to help you through the bad times. So I would think about your own life and be grateful for all the people in it.
Grade- B
Rated R- Lots of use of the F-word and other cuss words through out the movie, 2 seconds of nudity of Vera Farmiga, lots of sexual innuendo and vulgar talk between George Clooney and Vera Farmiga.
- oscargeek83
- Jan 26, 2010
- Permalink
A '00s Masterpiece
So 2009, and the decade known as...(what do we call this decade?), are ending later this month. And there is no better film to wrap up a (frankly) terrible decade (in terms of news events, unemployment, the economy, the media stronghold, the trashing and dumbing down of American culture, technology, narcissism, vanity obsession, a divided nation, violence and hostility) than Up in the Air. The film, the best I've seen all year and one of the best of the decade, captures many of the factors that made this decade the worst one, at least in my 42 years. The 70s may have been bad economically but hey, at least we had Bruce Springsteen and real music on the radio, women still seemed to like men and not only if the men were millionaires, thoughtful movies in the theater, and only five or so TV channels to pick from. Up in the Air features George Clooney as a man with no "roots," (that is, no wife, no kids, and his apartment in Omaha is about as furnished as a room at Embassy Suites), who fires people for a living because the companies who hire him are too cowardly to do it themselves. It is a juicy role for Clooney, who has made a career out of playing easy-talking charmers. The film sounds depressing and in many ways it is, but it is also witty, quietly hilarious at times, and full of pathos when it becomes a morality piece near the middle (and like the best morality pieces, it doesn't shove its message down your throat). It reminded me in many ways of American Beauty, the masterpiece that capped off the '90s when it hit theaters ten years ago. Clooney's character slowly is stripped of the things he only cared about--including a one-night-stand that becomes a "Same Time Next Year"-like meeting in Hampton Inns and Hiltons in Miami, Detroit, Wichita and other random cities, with another constant traveler (we never know what exactly she does, and that's not supposed to matter) played by Vera Farmiga, who may win an Oscar nomination for her mysterious, slightly passive and jaded, 30something character. The final important character is an eager young Cornell graduate (played by Anna Kendrick, from Twilight) who thinks that a career in firing people is a wise choice now, and in some respects she's not that far off. Her character represents many of the Twitter-obsessed twentysomethings driven for money money money, who live for texting, and has naive and even immature ideals of what makes a relationship work. But she too goes through a transformation, as Up in the Air reaches a "feel good while feeling bad" quality of Frank Capra's darker films, like Meet John Doe. One of the most amazing things about this film is its use of real people in the "firing scenes;" people who have really lost their jobs several weeks or months before being filmed. Director Jason Reitman combines scenes of these people being fired by Clooney and Kendrick, and their instant responses are wholly authentic. There are a few actors playing the "firees" as well, but they blend in with the real folks. I really can't think of a better film to cap off this decade. This one will stay with you. Highly recommended.
My 304th Review: Modern Parables - But Only A Partial Success
Up In The Air is a nice movie - a good satire about work and a comedy about the price of modern business.
It looks like its going to mop up at the awards and I'm just not convinced it really deserves to.
Why? Well, it has a good performance from Clooney as the confident consultant and good directorship, but it lacks true honesty - it sacrifices real integrity for Hollywood feelings and I'm not sure i want to see the top awards going on a film-flam type of film.
Others will say this is honest and strong and entertaining (A tough act to pull off) but even though it is a nice film, well made, strong performances etc; it just somehow is a little trite. Even Clooney, who really can make anything work, ends up a little bemused. I think its a shame that films like $5 a day, which we loved, will be chiefly ignored and this will be lauded to the skies.
Fun to watch and it does have heart; but for out money it is too shallow to really deserve all the accolades coming its way.
It looks like its going to mop up at the awards and I'm just not convinced it really deserves to.
Why? Well, it has a good performance from Clooney as the confident consultant and good directorship, but it lacks true honesty - it sacrifices real integrity for Hollywood feelings and I'm not sure i want to see the top awards going on a film-flam type of film.
Others will say this is honest and strong and entertaining (A tough act to pull off) but even though it is a nice film, well made, strong performances etc; it just somehow is a little trite. Even Clooney, who really can make anything work, ends up a little bemused. I think its a shame that films like $5 a day, which we loved, will be chiefly ignored and this will be lauded to the skies.
Fun to watch and it does have heart; but for out money it is too shallow to really deserve all the accolades coming its way.
- intelearts
- Jan 9, 2010
- Permalink
Blah and then some...
- robert-broerse
- Jan 14, 2010
- Permalink
Another hit from the Director of Juno, Jason Reitman
Anyone who has ever been fired must see "Up In The Air." Jason Reitman has done again. The director of "Thank You For Smoking" and "Juno" puts real life out there in an incredible way, where we all laugh and then walk out of the theatre thinking about what is really important. A film with a message that's entertaining: what a concept.
George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man that flies all over the country firing people for companies that don't have the spine to do it themselves. He is so proficient at it, when he meets his "expert traveler" equivalent, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga); he is emotionally drawn to another person, beyond a passing interest, for the first time.
Bingham's travels are a quest to be a traveling legend. When his company takes the advice of young newbie, Natalie Keener (Kendrick), he is grounded, endangering his quest to achieve frequent flier miles that number in the, uh, stratosphere. When his boss (Jason Bateman) assigns him to "show her the ropes," so she can revolutionize the company's firing technology, the resulting road trip is not only riotously funny, it is a self-exploring journey into the three people's strengths and weaknesses. The life decisions they make are the emotionally important message of the film.
The rest of the story must go untold, so you can savor every morsel from your own perspective. For that is what this film does best. Almost all of us have been canned. Sitting across the table, being told we'll be glad it happened, one day. Our participation in the film is subtle, as we sit across the table from Bingham as he cans us.
The film's cast is like the story: they suck you in. Clooney is Clooney, like Cary Grant was Cary Grant. You think he's not acting, that's just who he is in real life. Maybe it is. Vera Farmiga's performance is seductively natural. You've met people like her. You admire her. Then you find out you don't know her at all. She is the mystery you wish you were. Anna Kendrick as Natalie is a perfect, perky, know-it-all that becomes all too human. Kendrick makes her character's transformation special parts of the film, when she could have easily have been regulated to a supporting character. This has become Reitman's trademark as a director. He empowers actors to make the movie their own.
Up In The Air is a movie that is over before you want it to be. You want to get to know the characters better, to follow them around a little longer and make sure everything goes well for them. Another credit to Reitman for his extraordinary skill at taking the common things in life and make them extraordinary. Which makes us all feel better about the common-ness of our own lives.
Written by: Vincent for Overcranked.net If you liked this come read more reviews http://www.overcranked.net/movies.php
George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man that flies all over the country firing people for companies that don't have the spine to do it themselves. He is so proficient at it, when he meets his "expert traveler" equivalent, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga); he is emotionally drawn to another person, beyond a passing interest, for the first time.
Bingham's travels are a quest to be a traveling legend. When his company takes the advice of young newbie, Natalie Keener (Kendrick), he is grounded, endangering his quest to achieve frequent flier miles that number in the, uh, stratosphere. When his boss (Jason Bateman) assigns him to "show her the ropes," so she can revolutionize the company's firing technology, the resulting road trip is not only riotously funny, it is a self-exploring journey into the three people's strengths and weaknesses. The life decisions they make are the emotionally important message of the film.
The rest of the story must go untold, so you can savor every morsel from your own perspective. For that is what this film does best. Almost all of us have been canned. Sitting across the table, being told we'll be glad it happened, one day. Our participation in the film is subtle, as we sit across the table from Bingham as he cans us.
The film's cast is like the story: they suck you in. Clooney is Clooney, like Cary Grant was Cary Grant. You think he's not acting, that's just who he is in real life. Maybe it is. Vera Farmiga's performance is seductively natural. You've met people like her. You admire her. Then you find out you don't know her at all. She is the mystery you wish you were. Anna Kendrick as Natalie is a perfect, perky, know-it-all that becomes all too human. Kendrick makes her character's transformation special parts of the film, when she could have easily have been regulated to a supporting character. This has become Reitman's trademark as a director. He empowers actors to make the movie their own.
Up In The Air is a movie that is over before you want it to be. You want to get to know the characters better, to follow them around a little longer and make sure everything goes well for them. Another credit to Reitman for his extraordinary skill at taking the common things in life and make them extraordinary. Which makes us all feel better about the common-ness of our own lives.
Written by: Vincent for Overcranked.net If you liked this come read more reviews http://www.overcranked.net/movies.php
- overcranked
- Dec 8, 2009
- Permalink
A Decent Satire
We are drawn in by interesting, unique storyline and smart satirizations. About a man whose unique job is to fly around the country to inform people that they are fired. He meets a young ambitious woman that joins his company and who wants to change the system. Her ideas clash with his personal lifestyle choices.
What the movie really is about is lifestyle choices, and relationship choices, choosing independence and freedom versus commitment and well established interpersonal relationships. By taking a definitive stance the movie provides interesting commentary on those that for whatever reason (not necessarily for work) don't stay put.
A Monotone mood is established, that gave a bland aspect as though nothing substantial was happening. Part of the story took a dull meandering at times, however there were unconventional plot twists that made something that was seemingly Hollywood predictable not that way at all. And it was still interesting and entertaining to watch the contemporary witticisms.
The two main characters, although not the most true to life characters ever created, were brilliant satires of people we all know. We are all too familiar with the fiercely independent, non-committal, cockily at ease bachelor and we have also come across the, sharp, type A, ivy league know it all yet with an obvious naivety especially shown with her declaration of the specific laundry list of traits that her partner must have.
There were also some smart satirical illustrations of contemporary times in business, relationships, how people interact and the recession. For example the use of the smart phones in the new techno/relationship world is not simply put in as a momentum mechanism but is used as a symbol to satirize contemporary society.
It is not so much Clooney's acting that is a marvel as the casting, which was perfect. By being so spot on by choosing someone on the cusp of getting a little older yet with plenty of playful, youthful vigor we sense the conflict and the melancholy.
What the movie really is about is lifestyle choices, and relationship choices, choosing independence and freedom versus commitment and well established interpersonal relationships. By taking a definitive stance the movie provides interesting commentary on those that for whatever reason (not necessarily for work) don't stay put.
A Monotone mood is established, that gave a bland aspect as though nothing substantial was happening. Part of the story took a dull meandering at times, however there were unconventional plot twists that made something that was seemingly Hollywood predictable not that way at all. And it was still interesting and entertaining to watch the contemporary witticisms.
The two main characters, although not the most true to life characters ever created, were brilliant satires of people we all know. We are all too familiar with the fiercely independent, non-committal, cockily at ease bachelor and we have also come across the, sharp, type A, ivy league know it all yet with an obvious naivety especially shown with her declaration of the specific laundry list of traits that her partner must have.
There were also some smart satirical illustrations of contemporary times in business, relationships, how people interact and the recession. For example the use of the smart phones in the new techno/relationship world is not simply put in as a momentum mechanism but is used as a symbol to satirize contemporary society.
It is not so much Clooney's acting that is a marvel as the casting, which was perfect. By being so spot on by choosing someone on the cusp of getting a little older yet with plenty of playful, youthful vigor we sense the conflict and the melancholy.
The Barrier Around the Seat
Most Overrated Film of 2009
This was a good movie but I'm not sure why it's on top of all the movie critics top 5 lists. It seems to push all of the politically correct anti-business buttons in terms of heartless corporations mass firing downtrodden proletariats from their soul sucking jobs in the private sector while enlightening the movie viewer with the redemptive story of Ryan Bingham (Clooney) whose full time job is firing people while bedding down different women along the way. He is a "termination consultant" who is contracted by different companies to tell their employees they are fired. There are a number of scenes of him firing people with the predictable tears, violence, suicide threats, and so forth. You see, life in the private sector is really like this, day in and day out. Capitalism is exploitation, property is crime, we are all expendable components of an evil machine that ends up destroying us in the end. No wonder the left wing film critics love this movie.
Anyhow, Ryan falls in love with a fellow business traveler, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) whose soul is even more shriveled than his own. Ryan also develops a relationship with a newbie to his "firing" company, named Natalie (Anna Kendrick) who eventually becomes disillusioned with firing people for a living. Go figure. Ryan becomes humbled by Natalie's humanity, not to mention his own experience of being used and discarded by Alex. Thus, we are lead to believe, Ryan becomes a better person for being on the receiving end of what he is usually dishing out. This aspect of it wasn't remotely believable.
A good movie, but for my money, the most overrated of the year.
Anyhow, Ryan falls in love with a fellow business traveler, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) whose soul is even more shriveled than his own. Ryan also develops a relationship with a newbie to his "firing" company, named Natalie (Anna Kendrick) who eventually becomes disillusioned with firing people for a living. Go figure. Ryan becomes humbled by Natalie's humanity, not to mention his own experience of being used and discarded by Alex. Thus, we are lead to believe, Ryan becomes a better person for being on the receiving end of what he is usually dishing out. This aspect of it wasn't remotely believable.
A good movie, but for my money, the most overrated of the year.
Life is better with Company
- claudio_carvalho
- Jun 29, 2010
- Permalink
Amusing and with interesting social commentary, but not an impactful film
Up In The Air takes a strange premise that could easily feel stale or cold, especially given the perfunctory connotation that airport travel has, but succeeds as a pleasant, if forgettable, movie. Clooney is very good as a detached but thoughtful lead, and Kendrick also impressed, injecting life and uncertainty into the movie. The comedy works well and doesn't feel overdone. The way the travel scenes were cut also showed Bingham's comfort and intimate knowledge of the airport drill in a way that was fun to watch. Reitman does a good job of keeping each scene engaging and is at his best when he uses subtle social commentary. The themes of personal connection and security were amusingly turned on their head by Clooney having to teach Kendrick about maneuvering firing, as she makes the job he loves obsolete. The twist with Farmiga's character was also good and surprising, keeping the film from being a by- the- numbers rom-com. The timing and reaction to the 10 million miles was also well done. It's not a movie that's exceptional in any area and not one that will ever immediately come to mind, but it's a solid, pleasant watch with some originality.
- andrewroy-04316
- Sep 8, 2018
- Permalink
Very enjoyable film, funny though the subject matter is serious
Whatever Else It Is, It's Relevant
"Up in the Air," director Jason Reitman's follow up to his break-out hit "Juno," is easily the most topical film I've seen this year. No other movie has been so in tune with current events and the cultural anxiety brought about by the recent economic crisis.
George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, whose job it is to do companies' dirty work for them and fire employees. He's a transient being, living out of suitcases and hotel rooms, and that's just the way he likes it. But then he meets Alex, a fellow transient being (Vera Farmiga) for whom he develops real feelings, and Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a spunky go-getter who's assigned to trail him and learn from him but who instead wakes him up a bit to the emptiness of a life devoid of meaningful emotional connections.
"Up in the Air" is a very solid bit of movie-making, never less than entertaining and extremely well acted. But it's a movie that doesn't hold together very well when you step back and start thinking about it. Vera Farmiga gives a lovely performance as Alex, but her character is the weakest written and doesn't make a lot of sense. She prides herself on being as detached from emotional baggage as Ryan is, and something we learn about her late in the movie proves that she means what she says, but would someone who really wants to keep emotional attachments to a minimum decide to be a man's weekend date for his sister's wedding? And after he crossed the boundaries she explicitly erected, wouldn't she call things off rather than leave open the opportunity to continue on with their relationship? Would there really be an audience for the kind of "motivational" speaking engagements Bingham delivers? Would anyone in his right mind even think of building a presentation from the concept of getting rid of everything in your life that has meaning? Too much of this felt like it serviced the plot without ringing true on its own terms.
You can call these things quibbles, and maybe they are. Like I said, much of "Up in the Air" works very well. But the script calls too many things about itself into question for the movie to be completely satisfying.
Grade: B+
George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, whose job it is to do companies' dirty work for them and fire employees. He's a transient being, living out of suitcases and hotel rooms, and that's just the way he likes it. But then he meets Alex, a fellow transient being (Vera Farmiga) for whom he develops real feelings, and Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a spunky go-getter who's assigned to trail him and learn from him but who instead wakes him up a bit to the emptiness of a life devoid of meaningful emotional connections.
"Up in the Air" is a very solid bit of movie-making, never less than entertaining and extremely well acted. But it's a movie that doesn't hold together very well when you step back and start thinking about it. Vera Farmiga gives a lovely performance as Alex, but her character is the weakest written and doesn't make a lot of sense. She prides herself on being as detached from emotional baggage as Ryan is, and something we learn about her late in the movie proves that she means what she says, but would someone who really wants to keep emotional attachments to a minimum decide to be a man's weekend date for his sister's wedding? And after he crossed the boundaries she explicitly erected, wouldn't she call things off rather than leave open the opportunity to continue on with their relationship? Would there really be an audience for the kind of "motivational" speaking engagements Bingham delivers? Would anyone in his right mind even think of building a presentation from the concept of getting rid of everything in your life that has meaning? Too much of this felt like it serviced the plot without ringing true on its own terms.
You can call these things quibbles, and maybe they are. Like I said, much of "Up in the Air" works very well. But the script calls too many things about itself into question for the movie to be completely satisfying.
Grade: B+
- evanston_dad
- Jan 25, 2010
- Permalink
Good Movie...But Not Without Flaws
Average story development on an Interesting Plot, processed with Rich Screenplay Components
Every year there are new film productions copying either independent, low-budget films or foreign language films. It's not always making copycats, but sometimes reflecting the same concept twice, as well. As the first thing to say, Up in the Air, doesn't reflect at all what the novel writer Walter Kirn tries to tell inside his story scoop. Besides, looking at this year's another production "The Messenger" , we see the same character models and same story development tools, there. Is it also a coincidence that both Ben Foster and Anna Kendrick are being hired for the same type of work only within a different industry? If it is, the coincidences will continue by having Woody Harrelson and George Clooney as the trainers of our young fellas, and still continue with both Ben Foster and Anna Kendrick throwing in the towel before working their way up in the job. I find it necessary to look for external resources before evaluating a film after my first view. Up in the Air is a bad adaptation, totally messing up with its story; making it look cheerful and smart to the viewer. What's cheerful is making the audience feel sad and curious about the actors, and what's smart is the screenplay just offering a wise motto of life.
The whole movie is actually the answer of one single question: "What's Randy Bingman's motto in life?"
George Clooney plays Randy the Mr.Backpack, who lives by means of his mouth. He makes a living with his mouth. From start to end, Randy just does 2 things: He talks and he travels.
Randy's words are like passengers of a plane. When they are unspoken, they are at the gates waiting for their flight arrival. While they are being spoken, they may turn to have multiple meanings. But after they were spoken his words are in our memory:
"I want you to pack your backpack with little stuff you own. Your laptop, your desk, your chair, and your bed, and your room, and your house. Now, I want you to leave everything behind of you. Now, do you feel a bit light?"
"Your relationships are the heaviest components of your life. It's hard to get rid of them"
Opening with a mocumentary style, George Clooney's confused character Randy introduces himself to us from the p.o.v of the people he sees and talks everyday. His job is his life and his personality. He is hired out to national companies of which managers prefer not to fire their own employees; instead Randy does this though job. He is a Human Resources professional. Awaring of his success, Randy's boss gives a trainee beside him. Thus Anna Kendrick's character -one of the best supporting actress nominees of the year in Academy- teams up with Randy. Clooney and Kendrick are coherent together, this gives us a chance to put ourselves in their shoes; even though their lives are boring and pockets are making huge amounts of paychecks with just talking and travelling.
As the story goes it mostly becomes more boring, longer dialogues, longer scenes, terribly bad editing; very rarely there are important thematic values that offers us lifelong wise advices. On the other hand, the ideological concept is so feminist. Vera Farmiga's character, Alex always finds the right way to do and her acts are always right and she never makes mistakes; just like a super-heroine. Randy falls in love with her, and from her p.o.v it's Randy's mistake to come to her house to explore that she's married. 'Cause being open-hearted is not a proper code of conduct. This concept rules that women have rights to betray their husbands with making cool guys fall in love with them, while men are faulty when they think that marriage is an important decision and it must not be given very quick.
Looking at the filming aspects, the first thing that comes to mind is there are so many directing and editing mistakes, mostly mistakes on the ongoing production phase: Deliberate errors by filmmakers... Crew and equipment visible when Natalie's being introduced due to the reflection in the glass window... Continuity mistakes expose that most of the scenes are reshot over and over again; and when the exterior scene backgrounds change, Jason Reitman's editors doesn't find it necessary to cut those scenes properly. When Ryan gets dropped off after leaving the school, you see him walking inside with the same car still in place, but in the next shot he's two steps behind of himself and the car is gone. During that party at Alex's place, she changes her sweater from satin blouse to black v-neck sweater and back again to her satin blouse in a very short period of time(less than a minute or two). Looking at all the picture compositions, all the qualities are just average; nothing more than that.
Consider the Academy nominations, of all the 6 major award nominations Up in the Air got, it only deserves to win the Best Screenplay award. Myself as an amateur screenplay writer, even though I don't generally like adaptation scripts, Up in the Air is my favourite screenplay of this year. Sadly, the film altogether was nothing more than average. It should have nominated for Best Original Song as well for the song Up in the Air by Rolfe Kent.
The whole movie is actually the answer of one single question: "What's Randy Bingman's motto in life?"
George Clooney plays Randy the Mr.Backpack, who lives by means of his mouth. He makes a living with his mouth. From start to end, Randy just does 2 things: He talks and he travels.
Randy's words are like passengers of a plane. When they are unspoken, they are at the gates waiting for their flight arrival. While they are being spoken, they may turn to have multiple meanings. But after they were spoken his words are in our memory:
"I want you to pack your backpack with little stuff you own. Your laptop, your desk, your chair, and your bed, and your room, and your house. Now, I want you to leave everything behind of you. Now, do you feel a bit light?"
"Your relationships are the heaviest components of your life. It's hard to get rid of them"
Opening with a mocumentary style, George Clooney's confused character Randy introduces himself to us from the p.o.v of the people he sees and talks everyday. His job is his life and his personality. He is hired out to national companies of which managers prefer not to fire their own employees; instead Randy does this though job. He is a Human Resources professional. Awaring of his success, Randy's boss gives a trainee beside him. Thus Anna Kendrick's character -one of the best supporting actress nominees of the year in Academy- teams up with Randy. Clooney and Kendrick are coherent together, this gives us a chance to put ourselves in their shoes; even though their lives are boring and pockets are making huge amounts of paychecks with just talking and travelling.
As the story goes it mostly becomes more boring, longer dialogues, longer scenes, terribly bad editing; very rarely there are important thematic values that offers us lifelong wise advices. On the other hand, the ideological concept is so feminist. Vera Farmiga's character, Alex always finds the right way to do and her acts are always right and she never makes mistakes; just like a super-heroine. Randy falls in love with her, and from her p.o.v it's Randy's mistake to come to her house to explore that she's married. 'Cause being open-hearted is not a proper code of conduct. This concept rules that women have rights to betray their husbands with making cool guys fall in love with them, while men are faulty when they think that marriage is an important decision and it must not be given very quick.
Looking at the filming aspects, the first thing that comes to mind is there are so many directing and editing mistakes, mostly mistakes on the ongoing production phase: Deliberate errors by filmmakers... Crew and equipment visible when Natalie's being introduced due to the reflection in the glass window... Continuity mistakes expose that most of the scenes are reshot over and over again; and when the exterior scene backgrounds change, Jason Reitman's editors doesn't find it necessary to cut those scenes properly. When Ryan gets dropped off after leaving the school, you see him walking inside with the same car still in place, but in the next shot he's two steps behind of himself and the car is gone. During that party at Alex's place, she changes her sweater from satin blouse to black v-neck sweater and back again to her satin blouse in a very short period of time(less than a minute or two). Looking at all the picture compositions, all the qualities are just average; nothing more than that.
Consider the Academy nominations, of all the 6 major award nominations Up in the Air got, it only deserves to win the Best Screenplay award. Myself as an amateur screenplay writer, even though I don't generally like adaptation scripts, Up in the Air is my favourite screenplay of this year. Sadly, the film altogether was nothing more than average. It should have nominated for Best Original Song as well for the song Up in the Air by Rolfe Kent.
- CihanVercan
- Feb 25, 2010
- Permalink
Flying WAY Over Cohesion and Continuity
- jacklmauro
- Aug 19, 2010
- Permalink