Up In The Air

With most of the civilized world in the grip of Olympic fever these days, I'll give you my impression of Jason Reitman's Up in the Air in terms you can understand. Upon first viewing of this film I felt like I was watching a figure skater on top of their game. Everything about it was fresh, graceful, and moving. I believed that I was watching something truly special until...it happened. Like that figure skater with the seemingly flawless performance, Up in the Air stumbled right at the end. Was the stumble enough to ruin the entire performance? Probably not. But you can't help but think how good it could have been if it was just able to stick the landing.

This movie tells the story of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) a man who loves his job and everything that surrounds it more than anything else in life. This is not insignificant when you consider that he has one of the least enviable jobs in the world. He is a gun for hire in firing people in the business world. Clooney is able to portray Bingham as a man who believes there is dignity in what he does. We get the sense he believes what he says when he tells the recently canned, "Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it's because they sat there that they were able to do it."

The only thing more important to Bingham than the job itself is the lifestyle that accompanies it. The job requires he be on the road for more than 320 days a year and for Bingham, this is heaven. His greatest source of pride is his elite status with airlines, hotels and car rental agencies. This is a man so enamoured with the don't-be-tied-down lifestyle that he gives motivational speeches instructing people on how to free themselves of the things weighing them down in the world.

Bingham's perfect world order starts to unravel when he meets two women who will affect his life in different ways. The first is Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) whom Bingham meets one night while drinking alone in a hotel bar. The two use comparing elite status plans as a sort of foreplay and soon end up back in his room. Immediately, Bingham is taken by the beautiful woman who seems to get him in a way other women don't.

The second is Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) is a recent top-of-her-class Ivy Leaguer who the company has brought in to shake up the termination business. Her idea is to set up a process where people are fired via a video conferencing system. She believes that a script can be developed so anyone could fire someone simply by navigating this new system. Naturally, Bingham hates, hates, hates this idea and not just because it threatens to destroy his perfect lifestyle. He genuinely believes the people getting fired deserve to have that human touch during the process. Bingham's boss, played by Jason Bateman, convinces Bingham to take Keener out on the road and show her the ropes.

This is where what is really great about Up in the Air really starts to shine through. Only upon seeing this movie for a second time did I appreciate the fact that this story is as much about Natalie's journey as it is Bingham's. What this movie does exceptionally well is set up Keener and Bingham as polar opposites in every way. They bicker like a married couple but not in a cliché way like you see in many movies today. There is no feeling that their bickering is masking the fact that they are really in love with each other. It comes from the fact that they both possess the capability to be "soft" and "cold". Keener can't fathom why Bingham never wants to get married or have kids. He makes the case that he has all the companionship he requires and in the end, everyone dies alone anyway. Some of this movie's best moments are when Keener and Bingham are sparring over love and relationships. In this instance, she makes the case for love and marriage while he is the cold one, stating that marriage is for suckers.

But when it comes to their views on work, there is a role reversal which gives both characters some depth. Now it is Bingham who is the "soft" one as he continues to insist that the job can only be done properly face to face. There is something cold and even cruel about doing what they do in a video conference. Keener is the "cold" one looking at the process only in terms of what is best for the company's bottom line. As the movie goes on we see the effect that they have on each other. We can see Keener's doubts start to creep in as she experiences the harsh realities of firing people up close. And while Bingham may not admit to subscribing to her world view in matters of the heart, his relationship with Alex starts to look more and more like a traditional relationship. It even gets to the point where Bingham asks Alex to be his date at sister's wedding saying that for once he doesn't want to be the guy by himself at a wedding.

And this is subtle transformation is why I believe Reitman stumbles a bit at the end. Up until this point, the movie does a flawless job of establishing Bingham's world and then showing how it slowly starts to unravel for him. We get the sense that perhaps he is no longer satisfied being locked away in his solitary existence and that he may see a future with Alex. Without giving away too much about how the movie ends, I can say that the stumble occurs in the vagueness of the ending. Has he changed or is the same as he was at the beginning? You'll have to watch and judge for yourself but I've seen the movie twice and I can't say for sure. There are those who prefer open endings but I'm not a fan. And in the end, this is the one stumble in the performance. But when you look at the film in terms of the journey that both Bingham and Keener experience and the effect they have on each other's lives, the stumble doesn't seem as significant.

Circumstances Under Which You Should See This Movie: You're aching to see a good movie with solid performance free of the usual Hollywood clichés. Under these circumstances I would suggest seeing Up in the Air.