Up in the Air

George Clooney has been a Hollywood mainstay for almost two full decades now. He’s always been known as the “Sexiest Man Alive”, but outside of a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role in Syriana his actually performances have never received the type of critical acclaim reserved for Hollywood’s true elite thespians. All of that is set to change after Clooney’s masterful performance in Jason Reitman’s latest tale Up in the Air.

The story follows Ryan, a “termination engineer” who works for a company that is hired as outside counsel to actually carry out the task of firing employees from other companies when those in charge don’t have the spine to do it, while giving motivational speeches (if they can be called that) in his spare time, that involve a backpack and ridding yourself of the burden of relationships. Clooney arrives to the job sites with pamphlets in hand and a reminder that’s who you are isn’t as important as those you are with.

The irony of the setup is that Ryan himself is a distant and disengaged a person as you can find. He barely speaks with his siblings and seems torn over whether to actually attend his own sister’s wedding. He takes more comfort in the scripted greeting that the airline attendants give him than in maintaining real relationships. The only exception to this rule comes in the form of Vera Farmiga’s (The Departed) character Alex. A similar road-warrior, both of them are more interested in the other’s choice of rental car service and begin a relationship built entirely on no strings; connecting flights; and interesting places in a hotel room to have sex.

George Clooney commands a similar level of screen presence that Cary Grant once did. It’s easy to catch yourself (as the camera often does) waiting in gleeful anticipation for the next wisecrack from Clooney; delivered as smooth as the scotch Alex likes to drink in-between firings. Clooney’s performance as Alex wonderfully straddles the line between the suave and confident man everyone wants to be/be with; and the disengaged wanderer without ever dipping into melodrama. A strong front-runner for any number of awards in the coming months, and finally a venue for Clooney to display a level of acting prowess above merely being the charming guy with the nice smile in all those romantic tilts we’ve seen him wallowing in over the years.

While the film certainly shines with Clooney, Farmiga leads a supporting cast that including Anna Kendrick (Twilight) as Natalie, a younger co-worker of Ryan’s who is sent out on the road with him to learn more about the art of firing people. She and Clooney have fantastic chemistry together, even more so than Farmiga and Clooney. Kendrick is poised to be a breakout star and might even distinguish herself as someone other than being “that girl from Twilight.” Even Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) and J.K. Simmons (Juno) are fabulous as two particular employees that Ryan is hired to give the axe to.

Director Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking) certainly has become an artful storyteller early in his directing career. His films contain wonderfully interesting and unique characters and mix poignant, sad, and funny moments in such a way as to keep the plots fresh and interesting in what would otherwise be rather pedestrian films. Reitman does well to stay neutral of his characters for the most part. He doesn’t romanticize nor lament Ryan’s sense of individualism, he simply lays out each characters way of life for what it is and lets the audience decide for themselves. His camera work remains a little below spectacular, and his penchant for dropping into the “documentary style” handy-cam (not to be confused with the shaky-cam) at strange intervals is enough to throw the audience even for a moment. This is something that over time he’ll grow more comfortable with as we’ve seen other directors, like Kevin Smith, who have improved their eye for the camera has their career as gone on.

Camera work notwithstanding Up in the Air is one of the best films of the year, a shoe in for a host of nominations if not actual award wins come January and February. Easily topping my list of favorite films of 2009, Up in the Air is definitely not to be missed. The hype and good word of mouth that has been spreading since the film’s limited release in early December is entirely justified and real. This is not some fluke film that is riding on the coat-tails of a well known lead, it is legitimate.

Score: 9.1/10

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