‘Up in the Air’ is many things: a romance featuring a middle-aged couple’s casual yet passionate story, a comedy about a weary old-timer saddled with mentoring a wide-eyed newbie, a tragedy about widespread redundancy and the difficulties of keeping a long-term relationship alive in a jaded world, and a fable that admits the sensuous pleasures of corporate materialism even while showing us its cost. You would think the result of such an ambitious enterprise would be muddled and heavy, but in director Jason Reitman’s hands we get an exquisite film as delightfully light as its title.
Opening with sweeping shots from a plane over the cityscapes of America, the film moves briskly to the point. We are introduced to Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) who has the difficult task of flying across the country firing people. He’s glib and so experienced that he keeps his emotions tightly in check, and the actor manages this tightrope smoothly. Vera Fermiga plays his love interest, an equally alpha female who is also a high-flier for a living. The actress plays her with charm and wit but also hints at the depths of the character that lie beneath. Lastly, Anna Kendrick plays Bingham’s protegé Natalie. Dynamic, eager to please and still vulnerable to the naive emotions of youth: Kendrick steals the show in a scene where she breaks down in tears in the middle of a work trip.
The cinematography and musical score are old-school yet effective. In particular we move from perfectly framed shots to grainier, shakier footage as the film’s emotional core is revealed. This is a movie that revels in contradictions and nuance; it shows instead of telling. So a young woman who wants to fire people via webcam also waxes eloquent about marriage and the stability it provides; a man who fires people for a living is still the most compassionate person in the whole tale, and a woman who yearns for a different life also knows how to be entirely satisfied in her own. The larger point about human disconnection is a bit clumsily made: sequences with Bingham’s motivational talks and the real-life interviews of people getting fired don’t always land. Yet by the time we reach the end of the film and know Bingham has realized the full value of what he has lost, we can’t help feeling moved. The human race is all heading hard and fast up in the air, but where to is yet to be seen.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Language: English Runtime: 1h 49min Year of release: 2009 Streaming Platform: Netflix
Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.
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