Up in the Air
Release Date:
December 4, 2009
Expands wide on December 23, 2009
Limited release
On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 4/169 |
Max Braden |
Everyone was good in this, but Farminga especially has the best performance of her career. |
| 8/82 |
Kelly Metz |
Great performances all around - Clooney can do no wrong these days in my opinion - same goes for Jason Reitman. Strong supporting cast (especially Vera Farmiga). |
| 14/38 |
John Seal |
The bitterest rom-com of all time succeeds only thanks to Clooney and Farmiga's performances |
We know, we know. You get it. We like George Clooney. The thing is, we've also really liked Jason Reitman, too. The director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking has a talent for delivering fresh feeling films with a dose of quirk and stellar dialogue, and if early reviews are any indication, Up in the Air might be his most celebrated success to date.
In the film, Clooney portrays Ryan Bingham, a man who travels around the country to terminate employees for various companies. (If you've seen the trailer, you can see why they might want to contract such work out.) He loves his life on the road, relishing the fact that he never gets involved in any long-lasting relationships and soothing any pain with sex and booze. That changes for him when his own employer decides to ground him, putting him into a position where he's more involved in their Omaha, Nebraska corporate headquarters. Clearly, a reevaluation of what's important is at stake.
It's a strange-sounding premise to be sure, but we're betting that Reitman can make it work. Much will depend upon Clooney's ability to make an unlikeable-sounding character sympathetic. As of this writing, the praise for Up in the Air is simply glowing. The comments that accompany the reviews would have you believe this film is something truly exceptional. There's always the risk that the movie will suffer due to overhyped expectations, but everything we're seeing so far has us very, very excited indeed. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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