
Starring: George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, and Jason Bateman
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Today, I just saw the movie, “Up In the Air” and here is my review.
Plot/synopsis: George Clooney, plays a businessman named, Ryan Bingham. He has no life outside of his business. The only thing he has is his job where he flies around the world, firing people off of jobs. He loves his job so much, that it’s basically all he wants to do in his life. He meets a young woman named, Natalie (Anna Kendrick), who has the same job he has. After Ryan noticing she doesn’t do a good job firing people, Ryan teaches her. As Ryan partners with Natalie in the job, he starts a friendship with her. Later, Ryan falls in love with a woman named, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga). Ryan wants a relationship with her and tries to turn it serious. He was so in love with Alex Goran that he tries to get out of his job to try to spend his life with her. Ryan hates the idea of marriage and relationships, he was all about his profesional work. Ryan begins to understand marriage and relationships after learning about his sister getting married. He wasn’t sure if he should spend his life with women or traveling on airplanes with his work. Which will he choose?
This film was directed by Jason Reitman, who I believe is the real life son of “Ghostbusters” director, Ivan Reitman. This guy also directed, “Juno” and “Thank You For Smoking”. I believe that “Up In the Air” was truly his best directed film. The film was thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable. I wasn’t bored one bit. My eyes didn’t close at all and didn’t yawn. A very very very good movie.
As usual, George Clooney is always an amazing actor. He did it again by pulling off his great acting chops like he always had. Anna Kendrick surprisingly was very good and I think she’s definitely going to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this role. The story was funny but it got serious most of the film. The acting of the entire cast all around was great. Jason Bateman, the former child star was also very good. There is also a huge surprise cameo appearance by legend, Sam Elliot, he has a tiny role in the film. I won’t say what Sam Elliot plays, but he still has the acting chops as well.
The script did a great job keeping things very unpredictable, as you never knew what was going to happen next. There were some shocking scenes, especially the surprise ending of the film. It’s a short film about an hour and a half long, but still an excellent movie. This film is definitely better than most of George Clooney’s new works. Films like “Leatherheads”, “Burn After Reading” and “The Men Who Stare At Goats” were all shit movies that I thought were crap. “Up In the Air” was amazing and I hope George keeps choosing good roles like this. George is one of my favorite actors and I’ve seen most of his movies in his filmography. Some of my other favorite movies George has starred in are: “From Dusk Til Dawn”, “Michael Clayton”, “O Brother Where Art Thou”, “Three Kings”, “The Perfect Storm”, “The Oceans Trilogy”, and “Syriana”. Add “Up In the Air” to that list.
After seeing this film, I think “Up In the Air” will definitely be a big Oscar winner. It’s a tie up along with “Inglourious Basterds”. I would seriously suggest you to check this movie out. I loved it!
I will next be seeing “Sherlock Holmes” this week and I will review that one as well.
Score for “Up In the Air” = **** (4 stars as in “excellent”)
Kev
A well-acted piece about a man’s inability to cope with a world more real than the one he lives. And the screenplay just keeps on getting better and better. Nice review, check out mine when you can!