Up In The Air (Jason Reitman) 2009

We follow Ryan Bingham as his job is that of a mercenary hatchetman.  He is brought in by companies too chicken shit to fire their own guys and he comes in to fire them but also to soften the blow.  Being fired is one of the most traumatic scenarios and Ryan really does a lot to comfort people without being patronizing.  Ryan spends most of his time in the air and because of his job he actually feels great in the isolation of being in the air.  His job is threatened when a newcomer has an idea to terminate people by computer/phones instead of wasting money flying people around.  Ryan convinces the boss to take her around and show her it’s not as easy as saying “You’re fired” over a conference call.

You know, I actually saw this a week ago but I had real difficulty finding anything to say on it.  Walking out of the theater I thought to myself it was good but I couldn’t really come up with anything really remarkable or something to really hit me as a powerful movie.  But you know, even after a week I still kind of contemplate it and thinking about it and I realize this would be a movie I would own and see several times.

This is not a movie that will have big knockout jokes or have you rolling in the aisles or even be so emotionally manipulative as to have you crying in the end.  I guess it would be more fair to say this is a subtle and earnest film that actually has more power than doing anything in the former categories.  Because it’s more neutral and contemplative we can have the powerful dramatic moments and contrast it with subtle humor which is actually funnier than a joke with a big punch line.  While you are not laughing like in say Juno, I did find myself amused the whole way through and I didn’t feel as if I was being jerked around when the really serious moments came up.

As I mentioned with Sherlock Holmes, it is almost a given George Clooney gives a great performance.  He can play the perfect dick but also be dramatic and show the tortured side of Ryan.  Anna Kendrick is also good as the stuck up new girl who is more in over her head than she knows.  The person that almost steals the show is Vera Farmiga.  She is almost the female version of Ryan and she is wonderful in how she really beats Ryan at her own game.

While this movie is about the current economic crises and how bad it sucks to be fired, it’s not all that depressing.  It kind of has the same effect as Ryan where you see what’s going on, you get some encouragement it’s not that bad, and how you have an entire support structure to fall back on like your family/significant other/friends that soften the blow.  It sucks, but we are going to get through it.  This was an enjoyable movie.  It is a movie that really shows its skills in its subtlety and cleverness.