"Up in the Air" is grounded in humor, intelligence and pathos

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2010)

Amid the jumble of sequels, remakes and senseless blockbusters, Up in the Air, a witty, classy and lighthearted drama, feels like a breath of fresh air. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes this movie so great, but perhaps that's what's appealing about it - it simply has the right amount of everything. Without a doubt, Up in the Air is one of the year's best and most memorable films.
Because Up in the Air is a character-driven film, it is important that the actors deliver and fortunately, they do. Perhaps it shouldn't be much of a surprise, since Jason Reitman, who directed and wrote the screenplay, apparently wrote all of the three major characters for their corresponding actors. As Ryan Bingham, George Clooney brings charisma, confusion and a certain amount of weariness. There is a hint of Danny Ocean-like suaveness to Ryan, as when he is giving motivational speeches or smoothly convincing a just-fired employee to look on the bright side, but he is nevertheless a person the audience can relate to; at some point, everyone feels the same sense of aimlessness that Bingham experiences, and this not only makes him sympathetic, but also heightens the film's emotional impact. Equally impressive are Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, who play Bingham's love interest Alex and colleague Natalie, respectively. Both of them manage to make what could have been two-dimensional roles into characters that feel as real as anyone in real life; you can easily imagine passing them in the airport or seeing them sitting on the other side of your office. They also have great chemistry with Clooney: Ryan and Alex's romance sizzles, and the off-kilter, occasionally tense relationship between Bingham and Natalie is completely believable.
Perhaps what gives the movie its extra oomph is the phenomenal script written by Jason Reitman. The dialogue is witty yet convincing and the story's various elements are perfectly balanced. It avoids the trap that many comedies or even light-hearted dramas fall into in the third act, which is the tendency to let heavy themes or sentimentality overwhelm the movie and extinguish any previous cheer. The theme of unemployment and economic uncertainty is played with, yet the film never takes it too seriously or too lightly, and up to the end, the characters are given the front stage; after all, the movie is not about the economy, but how the characters, especially Bingham, grow and how they deal with life's obstacles.
All this is enhanced by Rolfe Kent's wistful, moving score and rest of the film's sensational soundtrack, which includes the song "Up in the Air", written by Kevin Renick who sent his composition to Reitman after being fired from his job, making it all the more poignant.
At its core, Up in the Air is about relationships: their burdens, the compromises required to maintain one and, most of all, that, without them, life would lose its purpose and meaning. It traces the way they ebb and flow and change over time, but also how they can remain constant, something to rely on in an increasingly uncertain world. As Ryan Bingham slowly discovers, no accomplishment is truly satisfying or enriching unless it is shared with another human being.
The movie's atmosphere feels oddly novel, almost magical, and in many ways, it reminds me of Jerry Maguire. Though it has now become parodied multiple times, that 1996 movie still stands out as a romantic-comedy that truly warmed the heart in an era when few rom-coms manage to transcend the sappy or trite clichés of the genre. Like Jerry Maguire, Up in the Air relies on sharp writing and soulful performances in order to do what few films are able to achieve: they tell complex, engaging stories about people the audience wants to cheer for. We build a relationship with the characters and, through the highs and lows, we're with them all the way.