Up in the Air (2009)

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham - or he's playing George Clooney. It's really hard to tell. But more about that later. Anyway, Ryan Bingham's job is to fly around the country firing people for companies that don't want to fire their own employees. Ryan enjoys the perks of his job - namely frequent flyer miles. What he doesn't enjoy is the threat brought by newcomer Natalie Keener's (also relative newcomer Anna Kendrick) ideas for change.

The layoff element of the plot is very topical, painfully so for some people. It was an interesting choice to use actual recently laid off people in the firing scenes. It was nice of the production to give these people a job for a day and it gave a real voice to the feelings of the situation. But after they say their piece, they get put by the film in the out-of-sight-out-of-mind files. And the amount of screen time they had to give so that these people could really say something made the movie drift into the borderlands of documentary. That just doesn't mesh so well with the sarcastic comedic drama stylings of writer/director Jason Reitman.

George Clooney does seem like he'd be a good Reitman fit - except instead he comes off as if he'd play his part the same way no matter who the director was. George Clooney's Ryan Bingham is also his Danny Ocean from Ocean's 11 involved in more legal but still questionable ventures, his slightly less goofy Jimmy Connelly from Leatherheads as well as a slightly toned down Harry Pfarrer from Burn After Reading. It's all charm, leadership, and conviction. He plays it well, but it's also not that far off from his public persona. So how many times can you watch it? For some the number is much lower than others.

Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick on the other hand pull their weight with the freshness that Clooney lacks. Farmiga is smooth as Alex Goran, an also-seasoned traveler who meets up with Bingham whenever they're in the same town. And Kendrick is eager without becoming a caricature. Although I don't recall thinking Oscar! Oscar! while watching them, I was impressed with their work and didn't mind them being nominated.

But even with the great female leads and the topicality, Up in the Air isn't very grounded. It's lacking the gravity to seem substantial enough to really care while watching it. People firing your loved ones and living fancy lives aren't so easy to connect with. It misses on the emotions that could really strike home for the masses.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: People who haven't been laid off and will watch George Clooney in anything.