Up in the Air

Jason Reitman did not get enough credit for his direction on Juno. The buzz was mostly about Ellen Page's performance or the love/hate for Diablo Cody's script. That movie looked really good and he did a solid job of getting excellent performances from his actors.

The look of this film is fantastic - the quick cuts of Ryan Bingham's routine, the overhead shots of cities from the air, the familiar ambiance of airports, airlines and hotels. It is so slick. And the script is absolutely one of the most perfectly contained and sound scripts in memory. Every line of dialogue and every shot by Reitman is coming from an assured, confident place and the director and actors involved know exactly the kind of movie they are making. There is not an ounce of fat.

Bingham reminded me of Tyler Durden in that both men have unusual philosophies that they can sell really well because of how charming and content they are. But unlike Fight Club which was a satire that eventually exposed how empty Tyler Durden's philosphy is, Bingham is older and wiser and his outlook is not borne out of impulse, but rather a lifetime of thought and deliberation about the world.

The film on many occasions looks close to having Bingham 'learn his lesson' and complete an easy arc whereby his character realizes how foolish his ways are and that he needs to grow up. But Reitman never goes for down that predictable route and the last third has lots of surprising and wonderful moments.

Another way I was reminded of Fight Club is that that movie had these amazing discussions about consumerism and masculinity completely woven into the script in a way that felt really natural. Similarly, this movie explores marriage and loneliness and job loss so effortlessly that it is never less than authentic and I would hesitate to call any movie important because that sounds to pompous but it is immediate and it is relevant, at least to me.

George Clooney and Vera Farmiga have extraordinary chemistry, and Anna Kendrick and Jason Bateman are pitch-perfect in their roles, especially Kendrick. I think she will definitely be nominated and possibly win an Oscar for her performance and the movie itself should pick up a lot of awards. But I don't think it gives audiences exactly what they want or exists only on a surface level. It's a profoundly intelligent and interesting film.