Part-time Muruch writer Brendan recently saw the new George Clooney movie Up In The Air, and enjoyed it enough to write the following review. Adapted from novel
Brendan says:
Jason Reitman’s third film is a work for the modern age, but tackles timeless themes. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man who flies from city to city firing people. He claims to like his life “up in the air” – unencumbered by messy human relationships. But then he meets Alex, played impeccably by Vera Farmiga, and the weightlessness of his life no longer seems so appealing.
Also complicating things is Natalie, the new college grad who intends to ground Bingham by reducing his job to one in which he’s dealing with people through a video-conferencing program. There’s an interesting juxtaposition between Bingham’s genuine compassion for the employees he deals with and his apparent disregard for romantic and familial relationships.
This is an intimate film, the kind we rarely see in cinemas these days. The relationship between Bingham and Alex is utterly believable, and its culmination is sure to move you.
I was also captivated by the non-actors in the film, downsized people reprising their reactions to those words most of us fear.
Another highlight of the film for me was the composition of the frames. This is a sublimely directed movie and I eagerly await the director’s future work.