Writer/director Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air starts out like one of his father’s (Ivan Reitman) comedies from the 1980s. Overhead shots of clouds and the earth below, paired with an upbeat friendly score, make this seem like a fun, friendly outing. But, this all ends when we see the faces of people who have just been fired, each with their own unique way of responding to the devastating news. This effectively sets the tone for the rest of this great film about connections. Our connections to our family, friends, jobs, and strangers.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is the ultimate business oriented bachelor. Not only is he without a spouse, girlfriend, kids, or even a pet, he’s without a home. When asked, he says home is Omaha, but truthfully he jets around the country, hired by various companies to fire their employees so they don’t have to. Ryan’s sister, Kara (Amy Morton), is his only real tie to ‘home’. As he puts it, she’s the glue that holds the family together. His travel from hotel to airport to plane to airport to hotel and so on, is a choreographed dance. Everything he needs fits neatly into his carry-on. Along the way Ryan meets fellow traveler, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), who makes their conversation about frequent flier miles sound like phone sex. She later tells Ryan to think of her as himself, only with a vagina.
In the midst of this, back in Omaha, things are changing. Ryan’s employer is upgrading to the age of the internet and plan to commence their firings online via webcam. This project is headed up by Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) and applauded by Ryan’s upbeat boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman). After pointing out a few obvious flaws with the proposed program, Ryan takes Natalie, a fresh-faced 20-something, eager to make her mark in the business world, on a road trip around the country showing her why his way is the only way to make a good firing.
Reitman gives the road/buddy movie a facelift with Up in the Air (think Planes, Trains & automobiles (1987), without the trains or automobiles), and as with his previous films, he never makes a judgment call on the characters or what they do. Reitman gets the gears moving and leaves it up to the audience to come to their own conclusions. There are a few predictable moments, but most of what is seen is a fresh look at a usually predictable storyline. Clooney delivers, as usual, with a great performance, capturing the heart and solitude of Ryan Bingham perfectly. Likewise, Vera Farmiga keeps pace with Clooney in their scenes together, and even passes him up a few times. If you know Anna Kendrick only from her role as Jessica in the Twilight series, you’ll be blown away by her here. It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from an actor her age. What she brings to the film keeps the story moving and never disappoints.
With a blue overcast and harsh lighting, each scene feels like the interior of an office building. This reinforces Ryan and Natalie’s professionalism and their “always at work” attitude. Their lives are tense as they are forced to hold in a wealth of negative emotion as a result of their chosen profession.
The firing scenes are especially emotional. I was fired from a job in December of 2008, and can relate to these scenes. There’s a line Ryan tells each person he fires, “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.” Initially this sounds like a line of bull to shut the person up, but it isn’t. Being fired was one of the best, and worst, things that ever happened to me, because during my unemployment is when I realized my passion for writing about film.
Most of the employees being fired are not actors. They were people who had been fired recently and were called in for what they thought was a documentary. They were told to say what they said when they were fired, or what they wish they would have said. I never thought I’d get emotional when I heard a man say Chuck E. Cheese in a sentence, but I did here.
A few of the fired employees are actors. During the opening sequence Zach Galifianakis (as Steve) is fired. If you’ve seen Zach in The Hangover (2009) or any other film or TV show, you’ll know he always delivers, even in small performances. J.K. Simmons (as Bob) also has a great scene which goes into more depth about the “Anybody who ever built an empire…” speech, and gets into the heart of the film.
Up in the Air will be remembered as the defining film of these times, and if you’ve ever been fired, at no fault of your own, it will speak to you, and hopefully motivate you to seek out your empire.
I recently had the privilege of sitting in on a lecture at DePauw University by Jason Reitman. Not only is he a great director, but he’s also insightful, humorous, and fun to listen to. He has many great movies ahead of him.
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