A witty story and brilliant performances makes "Up In The Air" an excellent film.

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2010)

Hearing all the hype and praise for this movie, I had to go see it. I anticipated another romantic comedy that George Clooney is known for doing. Yes, there is some humor, mostly dark, and there is romance, but that doesn't make it a romantic comedy. In fact, it is a rather serious film.
Basically, the movie follows Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), who works for a company that fires employees from bosses who are too cowardly to carry out the task themselves. This includes Ryan traveling around the country, over three hundred days out of the year. He loves his job and sees it as a service. In fact, this is all that he has in the beginning. But he quickly becomes intimate with the sexy Alex (Vera Farmiga) and has to take a new employee Natalie (Anna Kendrick) under his wing to show what his job is really like.
This pretty much sums up the first half of the film. But the second half pursues a more interesting storyline. As Ryan develops his relationships with these two women, he begins to change. A man who has been isolated by his job, and thinks that an ordinary life of love, marriage, and kids is malarkey attends his sister's wedding and begins to see that he desires companionship. He wants love. Now I won't give away the ending for it is both surprising and emotional. The screenwriters make it good without getting all syrupy, nor melodramatic. This plot may seem simple enough, but the controversial topic of companies firing their employees is a big part to this film and the collection of shots used of actual employees reactions when they hear the news that they are "let go" is priceless and scary, especially when it hits home.
Regarding the acting, it is top-notched. I think no other actor but George Clooney could have pulled off the role of Ryan Bingham. He's golden globe nom is well deserved. Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick are both equally brilliant in their performances, but I think Miss Kendrick has a better chance of winning than Vera, for there is more sympathy towards her character.
On a honest note, I've never seen a Jason Reitman film, but this movie shows that he has talent. The editing is clear-cut and sharp, and there are some great camera angles, specifically with the aerial shots of the cities and the sky. If this film gets any Oscar, which I'm sure it will, writers Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner should win for Best Adapted Screenplay. They make a simple story into a unique film. This movie proves that it doesn't take an overload of CGI to make a movie enticing; it flew by without a pause. A witty story and brilliant performances makes "Up In The Air" an excellent film.
My rating: **** out of ****