MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Up In The Air Rated R

Directed by Jason Reitman.  Starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga.

Photo © Paramount Pictures
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

The best films are able to deal with serious topics in the midst of entertaining the audience.  

Up in the Air is being advertised as a comedy – and there are many witty moments to be found in both the dialogue and the performances – but its themes are sober ones:

How do you measure success?  How are we defined by our jobs? Where is happiness found?  

Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is a confident and successful middle-aged man who is the best at what he does – he fires upper management personnel for companies who choose to outsource this service. Bingham likes to call himself a “termination facilitator”. 

He always flies first-class and is given priority treatment by his agency and the airline that he flies.  (Ryan moonlights as a motivational speaker.) With the economic downturn of 2009, business couldn’t be better. 

That is, unless the recommendations of recent college graduate Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) come to fruition.  Natalie thinks that the company could use video conferencing to eliminate the cost of jetting across the country. 

Ryan is instructed to take Natalie with him on a cross-country trip to teach her the ropes. Ryan has recently met Alex Goran (Farmiga), another road warrior who seems to understand the way things work. 

The interrelationship between these three is what moves this unpredictable film along, and it is refreshing to see a character-driven story as smart and thoughtful as Up in the Air.  Highly recommended.

Pitchfork Rating:
Four halos. (A poignant and often witty reflection about work, success, and personal relationships during a time of economic decline.)

Three picthforks. (For brief nudity, casual sexual relationships, sexual dialogue, and occasional strong language.)

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