Characters always have driven films, starting with Chaplin's Tramp to John Rambo to living figures. Simple stories follow these characters' daily lives, but a film projects the evolution of a character to maintain audience interest. Plots and stories become difficult when evolving characters find themselves trapped in a stagnant world, or vice versa. "Up in the Air" focuses on this predicament more than most films this year, constructing a great story as it evolves.
George Clooney stars in his third film released in two months – "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The Men Who Stare at Goats" being the others – as Ryan Bingham in "Up in the Air." Ryan travels the country as a consultant in charge of firing other companies' employees. Spending the majority of the year in hotels and racking up frequent flyer miles isn't exactly a glamorous job by any means. He enjoys and lives for traveling, but eventually he faces the changing economic climate. His boss (Jason Bateman) assigns him a trainee, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), to teach the psychology and tips of firing people. The film simply follows the endeavors of these two.
Sounds like a depressing concept, yet the plot focuses on relationship development. Natalie may only be a protégé, but she tries to drive Ryan out of his isolated existence, toward family and a woman named Alex (Vera Farmiga). All the while, comedy surrounds the film, through Clooney's wit and the great writing. Some supporting actors bring their own style for laughs, including Zach Galifianakis and J.K. Simmons.
The singular and minor flaw of "Up in the Air" is the structure, that sometimes lacks cohesion, and even calling it a flaw is a stretch. It glows decently well, but at times it tends to feel like a situational comedy, with characters simply lading in new situations. To stop being devil's advocate, the characters truly bind the film together because they stitch each transition together.
Jason Reitman directs his third feature with "Up in the Air," and clearly he has mastered his craft; he simply was born to tell stories. He co-wrote the screenplay with Sheldon Turner as an adaptation. He knows how people interact and almost creates a Don Draper rival here, with a character leaving the audience wondering what that person's personal beliefs really are. The story achieves greatness by avoiding romantic comedy cliché with a heartfelt ending after a heartbreaking climax.
Reitman's writing and directing together add up to his best film, combining the charm and wit of "Thank you for Smoking" with the heart of "Juno." To cap that off, the camera pushes the audience in and out of scenes with fairly ‘by the book' movement until one scene in particular. At Ryan's sister's wedding, the camera becomes part of the scene with a handheld, home movie look. You feel as if you are part of the scene, as the crazy aunt or uncle no one talks to. Everything pushes forward to the gorgeous final shot, leaving viewers without a doubt as to who Ryan will become.
The music adds the final garnish to this amazing picture. The song, "Help Yourself" found playing throughout the aforementioned wedding scene is incredible, and encapsulates the entire mood of the film in the four minutes of lyrics and instrumental as it plays. It may be up for the Oscar's Best Original song, but many of the other great songs throughout the film, including the title track "Up in the Air" won't even be considered because of ludicrous Academy rules. I recommend giving the soundtrack a listen even after seeing the film because Reitman has a knack for music, as he proved with "Juno."
I feel like I'm not doing the film justice at all. It represents the evolution and culture shift of a generation, with Natalie as the Twitter generation and Ryan as an aging baby boomer. The disconnect between them brings the main tension and plot drive, yet it feels natural to a younger viewer such as myself. I cannot wait to see what awards this brings in, but don't let Academy Awards be the measure of how great this film is in the future.
Grade: A
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