UP IN THE AIR (2009) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Jason Reitman
George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick,
Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey,
Sam Elliott, J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifianakis
Ryan Bingham, the character George Clooney plays in "Up In the Air", is like the opposite of a corporate headhunter. He's a hatchet man, a contractor who travels around the country firing people. He's good at what he does, and he loves the perks. He has a first-class card for everything, and he's got air travel and hotel living down to a science. He's blissfully unattached and determined to stay that way. Then he meets two women - Anna Kendrick as a smart junior colleague with some threatening new ideas, and Vera Farmiga as a fellow traveler whose values apparently mirror his own. As long as it stays true to its most mercenary instincts, this is pretty good, a sometimes nasty social satire for the age of cutbacks and looming unemployment. The actors are up to the task, and Reitman ("Thank You For Smoking") has a nice way of confronting and skewering corporate cynicism on its own terms. The story goes off track eventually. Kendrick's character disappears without much warning, and the movie loses something without her. And there's a side trip to Wisconsin for Bingham's sister's wedding that feels like it belongs in a different film, an unconvincing move to give this smooth-talking bastard a heart. The bottom line is, a guy like Ryan Bingham hasn't got a heart. He can't afford one. That's what makes him a good hatchet man. When his boss (Jason Bateman) informs him late in the picture that a tragedy has occurred involving one of the workers he recently fired, Bingham doesn't bat an eye, doesn't betray a thing. He's a professional with a plane to catch and a job to do. At some unnamed company in some distant city, there are cuts to be made, and he's the man with the hatchet. And he's just gone over 10 million flying miles, a long-cherished goal and his personal ticket to travel-perk heaven. Up in the air, life is good.
