ONE MAN SHOW
Jason Reitman, the man who has already made two critically acclaimed movies (Thank you for Smoking and Juno) plunges into deeper waters to make a movie about corporate lifestyle with human emotions. Adapted from a 2001 novel called Up in the Air written by Walter Kim, Reitman churns out a wonderful script and a riveting screenplay and above all some great performances from the lead actors. Up in the Air is sure to bring fame to the director and will definitely take home several awards.
Up In the Air is all about the life of a person called Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) who has his own peculiar style of living. He is a person who loves travelling, does not have an inclination towards love and marriage, hates relations etc. His sole motive in life is to travel 10 million miles by air. Ryan works for a company who’s sole purpose is to send their employees to various organizations and “fire” people, or in other words downsize a particular company. He does this job with adequate ease and is able to pacify the fired employees with adroitness. Ryan uses this expertise to give motivational speeches. He lives a life which is very uncomplicated. He just keeps doing what he likes best. But after a while, two characters enter his life and things start getting complicated.
Ryan meets a girl called Alex (Vera Farmiga) who is also a very frequent flier and also has a lifestyle which almost matches to that of Ryan. Another one, a 23 year old novice Natalie (Anna Kendrick) who enters into Ryan’s company and plans to make all the terminations of employees online in order to cut costs for the company. This idea is appreciated by the company superiors whereas Ryan does not oblige to this suggestion and this places him in a tight corner whereby he is asked to accomplice Natalie to the companies he travels in order to let her gain field expertise. Meanwhile, Ryan and Alex begin to meet frequently and Ryan starts to develop a liking towards Alex and he takes her to his sister’s marriage where Ryan helps in solving a problem on the eve of her marriage. On the other hand, Natalie after gaining experience and getting approval from her company superiors begins to digitize the termination plans which Ryan accepts rather unhappily. Will Ryan accept this kind of lifestyle and what happens to the love affair between him and Alex forms the rest of this tale.
The movie belongs to only one man, George Clooney. His nomadic lifestyle, body language and charisma makes the viewer stay glued to the movie. I seriously doubt whether any other artiste could have this role with ease and aptness as well as Clooney. The other two main characters, Alex and Natalie also deliver a commendable performance. Vera Farmiga as Alex does not look sexy like many other Hollywood actresses but she sure can act. Her role well etched and well portrayed. Anna Kendrick as Natalie also gives a laudable performance emoting well in the scenes where she has a quarrel with Ryan over his living style. Finally, you cannot but keep appreciating Jason Reitman for scripting a beautiful film about the corporate world. Please make note on how Reitman starts with the way companies justify their immoral attitude towards their employees and then convince them with their alternatives with perfect sync.
Overall, it is a movie with a near flawless script and some equally good performances and it is for people who like good and refreshing cinema.
