Timely adapted from Thumbsucker author Walter Kirn’s novel of the same name by Jason Reitman (previously best known as the director of love-it or hate-it Juno, and son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman), Up in the Air follows George Clooney’s Ryan Bingham as he flies from city to city to make mass redundancies as efficient (and anonymous) as possible. It could be argued that what is essentially a mid-sized indie film has become a major prestige picture thanks to its sense of capturing the spirit of the age – in addition to being one of the first mainstream pieces of entertainment to consciously reflect the current recession, the film takes place mostly in anonymous hotel rooms, airport lounges and office blocks, all short-hand symbols for corporate America, and features quirks such as characters googling and sending explicit instant messages to each other.
Up in the Air does fit very much within the conventions of the American indie comedy – present and correct are the unsatisfied male lead, the free-thinking beautiful woman who makes a big impact on his life, the return home to a supposedly depressing rural hometown that in fact turns out to be a welcoming close community and the soundtrack featuring sensitive acoustic singer-songwriters (to be fair its soundtrack isn’t too prominent, and does feature the very best of the genre in Elliott Smith, but still is really a little too obvious). Although the film does play about a little with the narrative conventions of a romantic-comedy, and allows a little real-world bitterness to creep in, it’s hardly surprising where the story ends up.
What the film does have going for it, apart from its zeitgeist-tapping quality, is that it is a very strongly made example of this genre. Casting George Clooney as Ryan was an excellent decision as his good looks and easy charm makes an essentially blank character interesting, it’s also oddly delightful to see him dance as badly as he does in this film. The cast are strong all round – including the non-professional actors who draw on their own experiences of recent unemployment in the firing scenes – however, the real star of the film is Anna Kendrick as Ryan’s young rival/protégé Natalie. Her character, being so much broader than any other in the film, might seem out of place but her sweet and exuberant presence does brighten proceedings considerably. Up in the Air does also raise an interesting point about the spirit of individuality so ingrained in the USA’s make-up, and the contrary effect this has had of producing uniform corporate environments that render every town and city the same. And, most importantly, instead of just hammering home these points to make an impact, for much of its running time it manages to be fairly witty and playful too.
