It represents the director's most mature film yet, one that is not only funny but also sad and ironic too

Rating: 9/10 (15 October 2010)

As a director Jason Reitman escaped his father's shadow with two very impressive films, Juno and Thank You for Smoking. Both were mature comedies that dealt with dark and politically sensitive issues; teenage pregnancy and spin-doctors respectively. Up in the Air, which was named Best Film by the National Board of Review, is based on the novel by Walter Kirn, with a screenplay by Reitman and Sherldon Turner. It represents the director's most mature film yet, one that is not only funny but also sad and ironic too. Although the novel was written in 2001, the film takes place after the US recession and it is within this context that Reitman can express the increasing difficulties of Ryan's job and enhance the emotional core of the film too. The verisimilitude applied to the minor characters in the film is particularly impressive. Those that are fired by Ryan look and sound ordinary and real. Their responses, as they are dismissed and stripped of their dignity, are as painful for the audience as they are for Natalie. Ryan's family too, when he meets them at the wedding, are not particularly attractive people, just ordinary folks who have their own pleasures in life, even if they struggle to make ends meet. Reitman's fine direction is not just limited to the excellent casting, as the aesthetics excel as well. The film is briskly paced in representing Ryan's globetrotting, without sacrificing the depth of its narrative. While the art design, from the meticulous selection of suits for the actors, to the cold and structured framing of the airports, is also strong reflection of the uniformity and controlling nature of Ryan's life.
Natalie's gradual understanding of the responsibility of the job form the basis of much of the film's narrative. As with Juno this is also about a relatively young woman who is in a situation that is completely out of her depth. Natalie attempts to use the same catchphrase as Ryan for firing people and also tries to map out different strategies on her laptop. Yet in one of the film's most heartfelt scenes, she is given the task of firing a list of people from a company and she can barely make it through the first interview. The emotion that is shown by the employee is the reality that no degree in psychology can prepare Natalie for and she is affected accordingly. The change that Ryan undergoes is equally as believable. At the beginning of the film he is someone who is completely confident in every aspect of his life. He seems almost proud of his disconnection to the world. However, one suspects that beneath his well-tailored shell he is longing for a lot more, even if it is slightly subconscious. When he is told that he isolated he responds arrogantly and naively by saying: "isolated? I'm surrounded". Yet the hurt is visible on his face whenever his attempts to connect with people fail. When he tries to invite his neighbour over she brushes him off stating: "I'm seeing someone now". Similarly, at the wedding rehearsal dinner Ryan is shown the ring on his sister's finger. It's a funny but ironic moment as it is tiny and probably cheap but at the same time it represents the bond between two people that Ryan may never experience. The family he barely knows resonate with the audience as the same ordinary-looking people that Ryan has had to dismiss, but as with those he fired, his empathy for their struggles has been contained because of his lifestyle choices and his own isolation. Thus the heart of the film is its screenplay, which is smartly written and layered with both humour and emotional depth. The changes in the characters are not only credible but they also do not mistake true emotion for sentimentality either. It is through these transitions that the film becomes richly compelling viewing.
The performances from the cast are collectively superb. Clooney's suave personality is still present as he knows how to be charming; with the ability to seduce a woman at a bar or to persuade a redundant worker that they still have options. Yet he is also colder, more clinical and determined in this film than he has ever been. The scene where he fights for his living epitomises this. As Natalie tries to fire him in a hypothetical situation, he acts out the various responses of people being dismissed and in demonstrating his thorough experience and knowledge of the job he is able to crush her optimism for the new system. Most significantly, Clooney expresses the changes he undergoes both internally and externally. As with the aforementioned scene, one can see him at the peak of his powers, in the comfort zone of the experience of his job. By the end though we also see him at his weakest when he realises he is like one of the released, only in a more emotional sense. It remains a very convincing and layered performance by Clooney, justifying much of the Oscar buzz surrounding him. Kendrick too has a challenging role of playing an inexperienced woman who is acting like she knows what she is doing. It is a performance within a performance. With her hair tied back in a pony tail, her suit and sophisticated vocabulary, her character looks and sounds the part, but she is of course hollow in regards to her knowledge of real human suffering and crumbles in the most convincing manner. Vera Farmiga is pivotal as Alex, offering subtle support too.