Great current themed drama

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2010)

Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is employed to fire people from other companies and he travels to different places in America and when a promising but naïve business woman joins the firm his outlook on life starts to change.
Despite the relevance to modern day global financial issues this Oscar promising picture is based on Walter Kin's novel, now almost 8 years old that from this adapted screenplay makes a striking resemblance to our modern day situation.
Director and part screenplay writer Jason Reitman, better known for his work for Juno and Thank you for smoking, again delivers an articulate view on worldwide issues only this time hitting the nail perfectly on the head.
This story uses an ideology of a young arrogant woman coming in and implanting a business idea to which would save their business a heap of credit, it does not save the worker's jobs, and there in lies the core of this wonderful story.
The idea for Anna Kendrick's Oscar potential character is to initialise and test a system which would allow Clooney and company to fire employees from their own office, via webcam. This impersonal concept from an apparent emotionless protagonist engages us into the harsh nature of today's reality when all we believe is that we are being made redundant with no valid explanation.
The film starts with such instance. Encoded are a collection of actors telling stories of real life redundancies, all of which are lavishing their frustration upon George Clooney's character.
Clooney himself is a fine example of a middle aged businessman. It is quite a performance to note no physical emotions but deep down we can tell he really does care about life. The whole backpack talks is a perfect example of his character's perception of the real world, which gets a gradual building during the two hours. Oscar potential? Very high but it is Anna Kendrick who deserves the full praise for her cold hearted performance that, after a break up, sees her dive into a warmer more upsetting state of mind.
Reitman has certainly developed since Juno. The usage of plane shots are very good, encoded with some delicious music. This land is your land song is a warm setup. The quick fire airport montages are well used, especially when Clooney adds some stereotyping. Whilst there is a slight formula to the last third this is certainly a well handed picture.
This is a wonderful test of the drama genre, adding flickers of comedy and more so romance. When you think you have the setup acknowledged it changes course and dives into a more appreciative recollection of real life. The whole fling business is a perfect example of how to tackle various genres.
Up in the air is a joyous creation of a drama that adds deft touches of comedy, juxtaposes a promising actress with an established a lister and with Reitman defying his critics this is worth a viewing.