Minamic reviews "Up in the Air"
Submitted by minamic on Fri, 02/26/2010 - 11:50
First of all, I don't get the big deal about George Clooney.
With that out of the way, I could say I enjoyed Up in the Air. Simply put, it's a little movie that describes the life of a man afraid of commitment, and who spends most of his life in the clouds. Literally. He changes from plane to plane and airport terminal to airport terminal, moving coast to coast to do his job, which is fire people for other people. He's done this so often that he's become methodical about his whole life. He even developed a personal system for packing and traveling that equates pretty much to his entire life philosophy. To him, it's simple. But, in the course of a trip with an idealistic graduate and his almost-ideal woman, he finds that it's actually kind of lonely.
Personally, my initial expectations of the movie, especially the storyline, weren't very high. It's a movie about a guy who travels (JEALOUS!) and makes it his life's work to make people miserable without seeming like he does it (NOT SO JEALOUS!) I wiki'd it and saw it came from a book. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked it up at the store. It sounds serious and depressing.
I guess it's different when you watch it being played over imagining everything in your head. Things of note: the screenplay. It is wonderfully-written, witty and intellectual. I found the film's dialogue made the dynamic of the characters engaging. Even the sparse bits of humor scattered throughout are mind-ticklingly funny. Do you realize how rare that is nowadays, when jokes are mostly green or laughter is had at the expense of other people?
The other thing that pops is the acting. George Clooney may have the star power, but Anna Kendrick was able to match him snap for snap. Where Clooney's and his female counterpart, Vera Farmiga's, characters couldn't hold emotion, Anna did for them. Sure, I found the "sudden meltdown" part a bit off, but it emphasized the gap they had, that despite Anna's character's facade of maturity, she was still the new kid in a really big and ugly world.
This is probably one of those times when I should be grateful a book was turned into a movie, and put into the right hands, nonetheless. Maybe if it were some other screenwriter, some other director, some other actors (*shudders to think of Tom Cruise replacing Clooney* *shudders to think she's just validated Clooney*) this would have been a disaster. So few drama films succeed nowadays because it's always about the off-the-charts budget, the high-speed car chase, the OMGWTF-mind-blowing CGI. Those that do pass the radar are relegated to film festivals and limited screenings.
Great. Now I know I should be grateful to George Clooney. I still don't know what the big deal is, but I'm glad Up in the Air had a chance. It's not fun, it's not entertaining but it's good and thought-provoking. It deserves all the Oscar nominations (and, hopefully, awards) it garners.
Rating: 9.5/10 Frequent Flyer Miles!
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I'm not a fan of Clooney, but
I'm not a fan of Clooney, but he deserves the Oscar nomination for this one, because the character is very well-written, as is the movie itself. There was never a dull moment, and those one-liners are hilarious. Kendrick was also a revelation, I personally think she even outshone Farmiga in terms of character portrayal. And I am now a fan of Jason Reitman.
I, too, think that if the
I, too, think that if the screenplay was poorly written, this film would've bombed. Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner did an AWESOME job writing this one and totally deserve the WGA award they just got. They deserve the Oscar too. :) I love how Reitman is getting progressively better with each movie. "Juno" validated him as a talented filmmaker, and I hope he finally gets official recognition for "Up In The Air". :)
p.s. I love Clooney. LOL
-Meann
NewWorlds.ph Co-Editor in Chief