Up In The Air (2009) Review

Whilst Jason Reitman´s previous effort, Juno, dealt with someone being forced to grow up far too early, Up in The Air deals with someone who is starting to realize that they are getting old and have not yet completely grown up, but instead fled from adult life. Ryan Bingham spends two-thirds of year travelling all over America, firing people for bosses who “don´t have the balls for it”. He has no family, except his sisters, and he doesn’t want one. He thinks he is happy with is life, but through two, very different, relationships, he eventually starts to get a better understanding of how miserable his life is and how his life´s philosophy maybe isn’t as great as he originally thought.

George Clooney, who is the perfect casting of this very charming, yet unknowingly lonely man, excellently plays Bingham. The film is very dependent on this kind of performance, as Bingham isn’t necessarily the most likeable character, yet Clooney´s charming performance makes him likeable and relatable. His character eventually gets quite a lot of development, something which he seems to be resisting, however what becomes very interesting here is that where is character eventually ends up is largely based not only on his development and revelations during course of the film, but also on how he was before the development began. This brought a sense of honesty to the film, which seems to be missing in many Hollywood films, showing that while we can all change, we can not always change our way of life drastically, some people have simply locked themselves into certain ways of living. That being said there is still a sense that, even in a situation like this, we can assimilate new aspects of the person we have become. It is an interesting direction for the film as it becomes more honest then the usual, more hopeful, idea that we can do anything if we just try and if that was the case there would be more A-list actors then nurses in the world.

Clooney is well complimented by his two main supporting actresses in the film. Alex seems to be a female version of Ryan, but eventually turns out to be something quite different, which is central in Ryan understanding who he is and creates an interesting character dynamic. The other is Natalie, a psychology minor who accompanies and observes Ryan a few weeks at works. She is young and inexperienced, unharmed, boiling with optimistic life philosophies who tend to counter those of the older, more experienced Ryan. She tries to rationalize everything with her knowledge from studying psychology, yet Ryan for most of the film seems immune to any form of psychological study and tries to help her understand that her textbooks can´t always explain everything. It is interaction with these two characters that makes the film great, as the dynamic with both of them is interesting and leads the characters in interesting places.

Reitman direct well, like he did in Juno, he gets us emotionally invested, but he never makes it sentimental, as so many films tend to do. He gets every act to feel natural and relatable, as well as likeable and relatable. This is not as humorous of a film as Juno was, but when it is there it works, while being subtle enough to not distract from the drama.      

The film is honest to the bone, it doesn’t try hide that dirty truths of life, whether is unemployment, our disconnected lifestyle, or our stasis in life. It is entertaining and moving thanks to great acting, writing and directing.

4.5/5