Cinema Nova, 28/1/2010
Status: Still a touch behind
I’ve been thinking about this review long and hard and written several drafts that never seemed quite right. And here’s my issue: I don’t believe it’s possible for me to talk about Up in the Air without sounding like a wanker.
It’s the story of Ryan Bingham (GEORGE CLOONEY), a firm yet gentle firer-for-hire who spends 90% of the year on the road. That’s just the way he likes it until a confluence of events – restructures at work, a new apprentice, a new lady-friend and his sister’s wedding – force him to uncomfortably reassess his out-of-the-ordinary life-choices.
There’s not much that I can say about Up in the Air that isn’t praise. Gooey, gushy praise. The more I think about it, the more wonderful it was. A complete and gently surprising package of a movie. The story is complex (as complex as people are) but co-writer and director Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking and son of Ivan Ghostbusters Reitman) keeps the tone light and the pace moving, but without the feeling of skimming the surface. He’s got a point and gets it across without being preachy. Reitman takes film clichés and gently twists them (and our expectations) into something else entirely more satisfying. It’s just… great. Completely and utterly great.
Go and see it, and then we can talk about it and I can stop worrying about sounding like a wanker.
Update: Thanks Jake for spotting the typo in this post - I sound much less like a wanker when my spelling is correct!
Update: Thanks Jake for spotting the typo in this post - I sound much less like a wanker when my spelling is correct!
