Up In The Air

Director: Jason Reitman
Writers: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Walter Kim(author)
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Release Date: November 13, 2009
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

What goes up must come down. Those were my expectations for Up In The Air. It is a horrible thing to be fired. And in this economy, everywhere you turn your head, there is someone unemployed. But you know who is actually making the money? The guys actually firing these poor people. Welcome to the art of the sacking business. George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, someone who has done fairly well for himself in this business. Ryan is almost always flying from place to place, firing people. He practically lives in the air. Upon one of his many trips, he meets a very attractive, smart woman named Alex, played by the talented Vera Farmiga (The Departed). Ryan is very intrigued by this woman and learns she is a frequent flyer as well. After one night together, the two decide to meet up again when they can.  So, movie starts. George Clooney comes on screen. Everyone is laughing. This is to me one of the funniest movies of the year. 20 minutes later, people are still laughing. I can tell I’m really going to like this movie. Half an hour later, people are still laughing. The writing for this film can’t get any better. 20 minutes later…. the laughter stops, and these clever inventive characters are no longer making jokes. I don’t know why filmmakers, especially hilarious ones like Jason Reitman feel a need to give their comedies a sense of seriousness to make it seem more real. Is it too much to ask to let the comedy be funny throughout? I have no problem with a mix of comedy and drama, but at least work in the drama a bit in the beginning, so the film isn’t one hour funny, one hour sad. It is annoying that the main characters in Up in The Air like Ryan and Alex are hilarious and then all of a sudden serious. The plot doesn’t just change, but the characters change as well. There is no real point or motive to this movie. Things happen, things don’t happen. Things are funny. Things aren’t funny. This is something that happens in films more frequently these days. Clooney and Vera Farmiga are great, but the real scene-stealer for me was Anna Kendrick as Ryan’s new young co-worker Natalie, who he has to take with him to his many destinations. Ms. Kendrick had a supporting role in Twilight, and she was the best part of that film for me. Her role might be a little clichéd, in the young, overachieving, annoying, type-a girl, but she makes it so worth it with her hilarious performance. But like the other characters, her character went to the dark side also. The quick turn from humor, to actual importance made me feel like this movie was going to end a lot sooner than it did. I shouldn’t have been thinking, “When is this movie going to end” only an hour in. Toward the end, the plot started to drag a bit, and it sucks to be bored just after you couldn’t stop laughing. I am not saying this film was a disaster, because it was highly entertaining and the second half, although serious, was still pretty interesting. It was just disappointing to not be laughing the whole time. I recommend this movie. Just be sure you know however, even though the film is hilarious, you will eventually stop laughing at some point, and you won’t laugh once after that.