Definitely a film for the times.

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2010)

In movies recently, American audiences are fed a lot of crap, frankly. We get the inevitable Saw VI, Alvin And the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, and other tripe that American film goers seem to flock to. Rarely are we shown a movie that shows people for what they really are, and life, for what it really is, and even less frequently do audiences actually acknowledge it. And, for this holiday season, which is more or less a dumping ground for Oscar nominees and hopefuls, we are shown a bright, intelligent, fresh, witty, hilarious, yet depressing picture from some of the best in the business. That picture, my friends, is Up in the Air.
Up in the Air features George Clooney as a man named Ryan Bingham, a "corporate downsizer", who goes from town to boring town, to fire employees, for businesses who don't have the guts to do it themselves. He's never had a real human connection in his life until he meets another frequent flier named Alex, lovably played by Vera Farmiga, who showed real, gutsy, raw talent in the criminally overlooked horror flick Orphan, earlier this year. Alex shares a lot of emotional stamina with Ryan, they click almost instantly. The chemistry that these two actors share is worth the price of admission alone.
Later on, we meet an ambitious young worker named Natalie (a beautiful star turn by Anna Kendrick, who had a brief part in the Twilight movies), who has an idea to cut costs by conducting employee layoffs from the internet.
After so many films a director makes, something of a trademark begins to appear, and Jason Reitman has his trademark down. And it's not a bad trademark like other directors certainly have. He has a knack for making emotionally relevant, and hilarious, yet deeply poignant and insightful films that are extremely watchable, and separate themselves from the usual Hollywood dreck that we're so used to.
His last film, 2007's Oscar hopeful Juno did kind of the same thing. It gave us that salty- sweet combination, and a lot of memorable dialogue. I could only imagine what this picture would be had Juno's Diablo Cody written it. But Reitman, writing alongside Sheldon Turner, whose previous credits include 2005's remake The Longest Yard, which I didn't particularly care for. As I've said, the writing here is witty, hilarious, and completely realistic.
Up in the Air is a very timely picture as well. Its major themes are corporate downsizing, and budget cuts. There's a scene in the movie where Natalie's boyfriend breaks up with her over a text message, and that's something that I know well, and I'm sure everybody else does as well. It brings up issues about how impossible love is if you're a member of today's generation, and that's part of what makes this movie so exciting.
Up in the Air is a difficult movie to describe. It's not quite a comedy, not quite a drama, and there's romance, but it's by no means a romantic comedy, or a romantic "dramedy". There's triumph and tragedy, laughs, and tears. But what's so amazing to me about it, is how closely it relates to real life. It's real, and rewarding, and a movie I'd certainly recommend.