Up in the Air is more Thank You for Smoking than Juno. Jason Reitman’s third directorial outing is light, amusing and perspicacious; but all done in an undemanding and tasteful way. Its commentary on business travel, life decisions and relationships is cute, but never profound, or particularly moving.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) lives out of a suitcase, employed in a job which consists of terminating other people’s livelihoods. He doesn’t hate people; indeed, he meets his female equivalent, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), and soon enters a casual relationship with her. However, he also meets young Ivy League graduate Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a 23 year old in a steady relationship, planning on a family and also planning on reshaping the company, and immediately dislikes her for her apparent precocity. Her suggestion of grounding the team and getting them to fire people remotely proves a winner with boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman). Gregory teams Ryan up with Nathalie, to give the girl the gift of first-hand experience, before implementing the plan for good.
The premise, indeed, is essentially a familiar one. It’s youth versus experience, in which each party learns something from the other. Perma-bachelor (and travel nerd) Clooney learns that there is more to life than his collection of loyalty cards (which, incidentally, form one of the most amusing scenes of the movie, in which he and Farmiga compare the contents of their respective wallets), although he has to get through several sanctimonious monologues from his 23 year old colleague and his sister’s wedding to get there. Simultaneously, Kendrick’s character learns of the nervous impatience of youth.
Many critics have criticised the movie’s final third, in which things tend to slop to the saccharine. What, I think, they were expecting was something a little more caustic and satirical. However, the signs are there from the beginning where this movie is going. Although Clooney’s realisations are somewhat clumsily handled by a script so quickly distracted by (some great) one liners and comic set pieces, it’s clearly a ‘journey’ movie, and in not just the sense it’s about planes. Surprisingly, it’s the downbeat ending which jars.
That said, it’s a diverting experience, and Clooney delivers a performance of surprising subtlety and versatility. He’s ably supported by Kendrick, and a sassy Vera Farmiga. It’s a shame its only veritable weight is more hand baggage than hold luggage.
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