 "Photo: Dale Robinette/Special for The South End/2009 DW STUDIOS L.L.C. and COLD SPRING PICTURES. All Right")
With this only being his third film, Jason Reitman seems to be falling into familiar patterns.
His two previous films, "Thank You For Smoking" and "Juno," both adhered to a specific plot line of exposing and developing an unlikely likable protagonist, and coupling the story with sharp satire and quick witted quips. "Up In The Air" is no exception to this ornamentation.
"I'm obviously attracted, whether I know it or not, to characters who live in kind of polarized world," said Reitman in a recent interview with The South End. "Usually, why I like these characters is that they have usually have a very open-minded point of view on something that is traditionally polarizing."
"Up In The Air" follows the life of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), who spends the majority of each year in different cities around the country doing his job - which is firing people. The company he works for is a third party that other offices hire to do the dirty work of letting their staffers go.
What seems like some what of a rushed establishing shot, Binghams existence is surmised by an air check montage, created to exemplify his methodical efficiency, and the pleasure it brings him.
The chemistry between Clooney and Vera Farmiga, who plays a fellow traveler, is undeniable, but when Reitman aims to achieve a deeper sense of meaning to this film by setting up an unconvincing hiccup, he falls short.
When the conflict ensues in the fashion of electronic media, making Bingham's travel, and ergo, his lifestyle, seemingly obsolete, he is forced to visually expose himself to his isolated lot.
The job may be a downer, but having his wings clipped, for Bingham, is a worser fate than being fired himself.
There's no bow tie with this film, which makes it appealing. Reitman successfully accomplishes the feeling of compliance with detachment, while simultaneously achieving a hollowed look into that massive amount of job losses this country is facing, more authentically than most realize.
"I cast real people as the people who lose their jobs in this movie," said Reitman. "So when you see someone get fired in this movie, except for a few actors that you're going to recognize like Zack Galifianakis and J.K. Simmons, these are real people in St. Louis and Detroit who actually just lost their jobs in real life."
Taking this gritty realism into account, the seemingly endless scenes of fathers, mother, sons, and daughters being fired brings out a different resonance to the film, but it doesn't save it from the rushed finale.
In what seems like a half hearted gesture, Reitman reluctantly pushes Bingham to find an earnest allegiance, in an effort to nudge the film to the next level.
The plaudit of family reconciliation is well placed and heartfelt, and while Reitman started writing "Up In The Air" in 2002, he admits that he "had to make some changes because of the economy," which I can't but also construe as a macabre capitalization of the worst one we've had in decades.
Grade: B
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