Up In The Air

Director: Jason Reitman.

Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmega, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman.

Reviewed by Jesse Green

Up In The Air has received a fair amount of hype since the movie was nominated for six Golden Globe awards earlier this month. Touted as the movie of its time and directed by innovative new director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno), Is the adaptation of Walter Kirn’s novel as good as the film critics are making it out to be? The answer lies very strongly in the affirmative.

George Clooney gives the understated performance of his life as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer and motivational speaker who espouses the archetypal modern man: he’s financially secure but emotionally very nearly dead. Living out of a suitcase and travelling America three hundred or more days of the year firing people, Ryan loves his transient lifestyle and is on track to reach ten million frequent flyer miles. He has nothing to do with his family, rents an apartment that he hates to return to, and considers airports and aeroplanes his ‘home.’

But after two businesswomen enter his life  -  his female travelling counterpart (Vera Farmega) and an ambitious yet naïve work colleague called Natalie (Anna Kendrick)  -  Ryan begins to let go of his materialistic attitude and starts reaching out to others.

Ok, so it doesn’t sound particularly exciting, but the subtle use of irony and emotion turn what could have been an average film into a thought provoking piece of art. Reitman’s direction plays out just like the performances and uses a steady but discreet hand in delivering the story. The scene where Ryan tears Natalie’s knowledge on his job to pieces is mesmerising because there is so much power on the screen, yet nothing comes close to a shout. There is so much bubbling beneath the surface here, and Reitman has captured it well and made this existential drama a pleasure to watch.

Up In The Air in cinemas 14 January.

ENDS