W i t h the Oscars approaching fast, it would be wrong for those of us at bookhouse review to not see the films nominated for best picture - or at least the five films that deserve to be on the list. So, last night, I popped to Showcase Cinema to catch a showing of Up in the Air. (For free, of course.)
The film is directed by Jason Reitman - son of Ivan Reitman, the man who brought us Stripes, Evolution and both the Ghostbusters movies. Incidentally, a third Ghostbusters movie has been announced and will probably sit on a pile with some of Reitman’s other ‘classics’ such as Junior, Kindergarten Cop and Father’s Day. I do love Dave though. . .
Jason Reitman seems to be building a bit of a reputation after directing the brilliant Juno in 2007 and, the sadly under-watched, Thank You For Smoking in 2005. Up in the Air has that, sort of, almost, independent ‘feel’ about it, or at least like it doesn’t have a budget for CGI or pyrotechnics or Will Smith.
But it does have George Clooney.
And he is great.
He usually is.
I saw him in an episode of Murder She Wrote a few weeks ago and, frankly, he dazzled.
He’s up for another Oscar.
In 2008 he was nominated for his role in Michael Clayton and would have won if Daniel Day Lewis would just stay in retirement and cease from being unbelievable awesome. He actually won a best supporter actor Oscar in 2006 for his role in Syriana but that must have been because the member of the academy were scared to admit that they didn’t really understand what on earth Syriana was actually about.
Up in the Air is one of those movies that Clooney does between the Ocean’s 11 films; these are the movies he wants to make rather than the ones that make him the money.
What you have with Clooney is one of the most beautiful and charismatic men on the planet being beautiful and charismatic on screen but, at the same time, he’s pathetic. He plays Ryan Bingham, a man whose job it is to fly around the country firing people for companies who don’t have the courage to do it themselves. He likes his life. Privileged queue-jumping rights at the airport, hotels and hire-car stands. Food and accommodation is covered and he has nothing that ties him down.
He also has no place he can call home and a family in Milwaukee he doesn’t see.
Clearly he’s lonely.
And this is the brilliance of the Clooney performance. He’s not impersonating a real life character, he isn’t crippled in some way, he’s not autistic or mentally deranged and he hasn’t been part of an abusive relationship.
He’s subtle.
It’s internal.
He’s a real person who grows throughout the film, learns something about himself but doesn’t necessarily resolve all of his issues and won’t necessarily be happy just before the credits start rolling.
It would be a great performance worthy of an Oscar nomination for so many actors but, for me, Clooney can do this. We know he can. We’ve seen it. So, yes, he’s great, but he has to do something exceptional these days otherwise it can look like he’s not trying.
He should be watched in this film though. He should always be watched.
Clooney isn’t the only thing in the film, of course.
His relationship with Vera Farmiga’s character, Alex Goran, is pure chemistry. I’d like to have seen more of this. It wasn’t the same as the chemistry he had with Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight but it was edging that way. Her character catalyses Bingham to re-evaluate his ways but their relationship does end rather predictably, which is disappointing.
Anna Kendrick, like Farmiga, is up for the best supporting actress Oscar.
Neither will win. This will go to Mo’ Nique for Precious.
Kendrick plays Natalie Keener, a 23 year-old working at the same company as Clooney and threatens to end his high-flying way of life by implementing a new system that will eradicate the need to travel by firing people remotely via and internet video feed. Bingham takes her on the road to show her why he needs to be out there face-to-face rather than stuck behind a computer screen.
They obviously form a bond where each takes something away from the other person that will enrich their lives in the future. It’s like a road movie in the sky. Or a buddy movie in the sky. Or a coming of age movie, er, in the sky.
Reitman does an OK job. He whacks in an elaborate opening credit sequence like he always does, he explores the generational gap between Clooney and Kendrick’s characters with some dexterity and the script is pretty tight. I like that it is a film driven by the character and script.
This review is far from pithy.
Let’s try something else.
It’s pretty good.
Worth watching for Clooney.
Reitman might get something for the script.
Rating: 
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