First-Class Dramedy

Rating: 10/10 (16 January 2010)

"Up in the Air" manages to be funny, poignant, and troubling, often all at once. It's a film about people, jobs, and the fulfillment that these things do or do not bring. It's also director Jason Reitman's most mature and even film so far in his career.
Protagonist Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) constantly flies from city to city to fire people. When a boss is too cowardly to let his/her employees go, Bingham steps in with his sleek suits and ominous "new opportunity" brochures. Like Aaron Eckhart's tobacco spokesman in Reitman's "Thank You For Smoking," Clooney's Bingham is superb at what he does. From his cleanly efficient airport behavior to his awe-inspiring firing routines, Bingham is a force of nature; Clooney captures his bravado perfectly.
The plot really opens when Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a young upstart, introduces a new system to Bingham's company; firing sessions will now take place through a Skype-like video conferencing system. An outraged Bingham has no choice but to take Natalie along with him for his next round of sessions, so that he can "show her the ropes." The plot lifts off at this point, with some turbulence and some twists along the way.
"Up in the Air" works primarily because of its performances and its script. Clooney sells Bingham unquestionably as a loner who loves to travel. Bingham seeks fulfillment through the collection of Frequent Flyer miles and premium membership cards, but his vision becomes cloudy when a love interest enters the picture. As Bingham's potential soul-mate, Alex, Vera Farmiga is bold, funny, and mysterious. She has a Lauren Bacall sensibility, along with a unique sort of beauty. Yet, the heart and soul of the film is Anna Kendrick. As the film's most dynamic character, Kendrick is totally convincing and compelling. For Bingham, she becomes a wrench in the works. She seems to know her character so well that she truly becomes her for 100 minutes.
For its first seventy minutes or so, "Up in the Air" is a charming romantic/career/teacher-student- comedy. It's hilarious and smart. The rest of the film is a bit darker; it forces characters to step out of the terminal and confront reality (that's as specific as I'll be). While there are still funny moments, the movie becomes more of a drama. Both the mostly-comedic and the mostly-dramatic segments work wonderfully, and the tonal shift feels wholly organic and inevitable.
"Up in the Air" is a great film, with great dialogue and great acting. It bodes well for Reitman and its three stars.