Up, Up and So Far Away

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2010)

I think why Up in the Air shot straight to the top of my 2009 best list is not only was it a perfect movie, it connected with me. I've seen a few dozen 5-star movies in the past few years, but none has connected with me personally since Lost in Translation.
As depressing as it could be at times, it showed truism with the scenes and especially the dialogue. The movie was so well crafted and written, so tight and real, I loved every minute of the movie.
It helps that I am a enormous George Clooney (Ryan) fan, but the biggest surprise for me was how incredible Vera Farmiga (Alex) fed/bounced off him with excellent ease. Listening to them go back and forth, especially with Anna Kendrick (Natalie) indirectly insulting them, was as much fun as watching Clooney (again) with Brad Pitt in Ocean's Eleven (or any of them, for that matter.) Ryan is set in his job, which because of the freedom of traveling and not being micromanaged, he is in love with his life on the road. His job (not the most ideal or friendly of employments) is firing those in multiple cities throughout the USA for approximately 320+ days a year. He does this due to the corporate big-wigs are too much of a pansy to do themselves. But Ryan has the gift of turning any negative statement (quiet, shouted, violent or sworn) into a positive. Yes, it's his job to do that, to ease people into their new "lives," but he is effective in actually helping some. (On a side note, and this is probably why this was a personal movie for me, I have to do the same thing in my own job. Unfortunately, bad news is what I have to give to some people. Though I try to detach myself, as Ryan is perfect at, I simply cannot at times and it is heartbreaking to be the bearer of bad news.) Of course, there wouldn't be a movie without conflict, so in comes two new women in Ryan's life. On the road, as usual, Ryan meets Alex in a bar. The scene was so juicy in dialogue and filled with spontaneity, I couldn't believe (at first) that this was their initial introduction. But, that sets the scene for their "non-involved relationship," whether sexual or just company in the long days away from their own homes. A perfect union of noncommittal, planned out encounters.
The other variance in Ryan's life, the other female is a 23-year-old, extremely wet behind the ears college grad, Natalie who's book-smart, but hardly street-wise. Her idea is to save money by transferring live fires to chat-room lay-offs. Impersonal? Absolutely, and Ryan immediately clashes with her in one of the best scenes in the movie. Nevertheless, Ryan's boss (Bateman) sends her out with Ryan with fantastic comedic scenes, including and especially the ones where Ryan, whom you know pretty well by this point, is pitch-quiet.
And that's how well made this movie is. You know the characters. You not only feel for them, you understand them. All the while the movie does progress and characters grow/develop and even more layers are uncovered. If the movie didn't grab me from frame one (and it did) the longer it went on, the ingenious plot developments, including comedy and drama and definitely realism, the more I fell in love with the film.
It's almost award time. Here are my wants for Up in the Air: Best Picture, Best Actor (Clooney), Best Supporting Actress (Farmiga), Best Director (Reitman) and Best Adapted Screenplay. If it wins for all, it is truly a perfect world, but the following is what I am willing to settle for.
No one, and I mean no actor living, could pull off the role of Ryan as Clooney did. I am hoping for another Best Actor Oscar for his performance, but I will settle on Farmiga as Best Supporting Actress. Not only was she a surprise scene-stealer for me, but she was absolutely excellent. I strongly believe also this should win a Best Adapted Screenplay at very least. And it's funny, usually when I said that, before the Oscars are announced, I'm usually right. I also wanted the following to win Best Screenplays (Original or Adapted): Brokeback Mountain, L.A. Confidential, The Silence of the Lambs, No Country for Old Men, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Juno, Lost in Translation, Little Miss Sunshine, American Beauty, Fargo, and Pulp Fiction. All of which won. (To me, the "Original" award is even better, but nevertheless, I still wanted them to earn a screen writing Oscar.) As you can see from the list before, my favorite aspect of any movie begins with the script. Everyone of them above received a 5/5 (or close to) and it was related to the script. Real dialogue, interesting ideas, originality, pace. These are all things I look for, probably first, in a film. And Up in the Air captures all of these. So, again, in case the Academy Award voters are off again – and 7/10 times they are in the majority of categories (namely Best Picture), I'm hoping for the win in the Best Adapted Screenplay section.
See this movie. Especially now with the economy in the state it is. Sure, the source material's years old, but this is as fresh as it can be. See it, at very least, to understand what happens on the other side of the desk when you're laid off or fired. Of which, I've been both and never bothered to put myself in the other's shoes.