Movie deserving of thumbs ‘Up’ for screenplay at Golden
Globes
It’s rare for a movie to hit all the right notes, but Jason
Reitman’s film
”
Up in the Air
”
comes closer than any movie I’ve seen in a while.
I saw the movie more than a month after its initial release
because there were just so many movies released in January and not
enough time to see them all. I finally went to see
”
Up in the Air
”
when a friend told me he thought it was the best movie of the
decade
– though I am not sure if he meant the last decade or the one we
just embarked on.
Movie deserving of thumbs ‘Up’ for screenplay at Golden Globes
It’s rare for a movie to hit all the right notes, but Jason Reitman’s film “Up in the Air” comes closer than any movie I’ve seen in a while.
I saw the movie more than a month after its initial release because there were just so many movies released in January and not enough time to see them all. I finally went to see “Up in the Air” when a friend told me he thought it was the best movie of the decade – though I am not sure if he meant the last decade or the one we just embarked on.
Reitman, who directed the movie and wrote the screenplay with Sheldon Turner, based it on a book by Walter Kirn. It is about a guy whose job is firing people, so it is perfectly suitable to the times we live in. The movie starts off with clips of people who have just gotten the news that their position has been eliminated. Some of them cry, some throw things, some just seem completely lost. Luckily for me, knock on wood, I haven’t had my position eliminated or been fired. But it’s been a year where at least half a dozen people I know have had their livelihoods affected.
The thing about “Up in the Air” is that Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), who works as a termination specialist, doesn’t revel in the bad news he shares with the people he fires. He honestly thinks he is there to help them through the moment and to prod them to refocus on their future.
In his spare time, of which he doesn’t have much because he travels 313 days a year for work, he gives what could most aptly be called de-motivational speeches. His whole spiel is about thinking of life as a backpack that is crammed with everything in our lives – our possessions, our families, our friends, our acquaintances – that weighs us down so much we can’t really live life. Of course, for Ryan, living life is about collecting frequent flier miles since he is disconnected from his family, has no friends and just rents an econo studio when he has to be in Nebraska.
The first sign that things may not be so perfect for Ryan comes when his boss announces a change in the way they do business. Recent college graduate Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) has come up with a way to fire people over an Internet video conference. Company owner Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) is practically drooling over the potential increase in profits if he doesn’t have to fly his staff around the country to fire people in person. Ryan, however, sees things differently. He thinks it is important to do the firing in person because it is the more compassionate way to handle things.
Craig agrees to let him stay in the air, but only if he takes Natalie along to show her the ropes. The young ingenue can barely hide her contempt for the old-timer who is not ready to let technology take over.
As they travel from city to city, the exteriors of both Natalie and Ryan start to show some cracks. For all her smarts, Natalie admits she let herself get dragged to a Nebraska for fire people because of a boy. And Ryan starts to see that keeping your backpack devoid of human connections may not be the best way to leave.
Ryan and Natalie are both helped along the way by Alex (Vera Farmiga,) whom Ryan meets, where else, in an airport bar. The two bond over all their hotel rewards cards and rental car perks cards. They seem perfect for each other and allow a one-night stand to turn into slightly more.
The movie has won at film festival around the world, and most recently took home the best screenplay award at the Golden Globes. It’s no wonder the movie won since there were lines from the movie that still stick out in my mind. Like Alex’s retort to Ryan when she asks him about his backpack lectures on their second meeting: “I googled you. It’s what us modern girls do when we have a crush.”
Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick all received nominations for the Golden Globes, though they did not win. The three played the parts with thoughtfulness and enough vulnerability to make the story believable. Clooney, who I’ve mostly seen in off-the-wall roles in movies such as “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and “O, Brother Where Art Thou?” shows more emotional depth than I’ve seen from in before. Watch the movie and you will see the moment when Ryan Bingham’s heart breaks in Clooney’s eyes.
The actors are all likely to get a nod for the Oscars, which will air in March this year. Nominees have not yet been announced. It’s too early to say if “Up in the Air” is the best movie of the decade, but it could be the best movie of the year.
Melissa Flores writes a blog at http://melissa-movielines.blogspot.com where you can see her thoughts on movies, TV, food and more.
