"UP IN THE AIR" ('09) Scores as Another Clooney Hit

[Carl M. Zapffe]

"UP IN THE AIR" ('09) ... George Clooney scores another critical hit in this bleak tale about corporate downsizing adapted from the novel of the same name by Walter Kim. Ryan Bingham (Clooney) specializes as a personnel axeman for hire by corporations who have to downsize and don't have the will or the desire to fire their own employees en masse, so they hire a professional like Bingham to do this distasteful work for them. 

Business has been booming during these difficult economic times, so the company that employs Bingham is considering how to grow the business to meet the enhanced demand. At the moment Ryan's boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), is entranced by the idea of televising the firings over the internet so that his corporate axemen can remain at the home office but be televised in even more places without undergoing the hassle of traveling, waiting in airports, and missing connecting flights. 

He has been sold on this concept by Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a bright young B-school graduate, and he wants to try it out. Ryan's fellow axemen sit there stone-faced during the office presentation by Keener. Needless to say, Bingham hates the idea, since accumulating more frequent flyer points to win membership to even more exclusive airline clubs is his one joy in life. He challenges his boss to prove that the idea works, and Gregory turns the tables on him by challenging him to prove that Keener's plan doesn't work. She will accompany him on his next trip, and they will see how things works out. 

With this setup in place, the middle-aged Bingham and the bright young thing Keener go off to their next job, neither trusting the motivations or the methods of the other. The two fly all over the country to do their work with cool efficiency. Along the way, Bingham gives Keener valuable lessons on how to fly so that not a moment is lost or an effort wasted. After each arrival they settle in to help in the next corporate restructuring and downsizing. (I give the producers of this movie great credit for having casting calls in both St. Louis and Detroit for recently fired workers, many of whom star in this film with their unscripted, real world answers upon learning that they are about to be fired. Many responded, and felt, just the way they had upon earlier learning this for real.)

The second subplot of this film shows the one-dimensional Bingham's colorless life as evidenced by his undecorated apartment which only serves as a stopping off point near the home office. Even a pretty young neighbor who used to be there for him has settled down with someone else. Divorced with no place that he would even want to call a home, Ryan dreads the thought that he might have to attend the upcoming marriage of his sister's daughter in upstate Wisconsin.

However, his cool veneer begins to crack after meeting a lovely woman, Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), who is just as driven as he is. In one of the few moments of hilarity in this movie, the two pull out all of their membership cards and guest passes to see who has the biggest collection. They then start to plan their flying schedules so that they can hook up for quickie trysts at airport hotels when both happen to be in the same area. 

Observing the two of them together, Natalie Keener, who is much more naive and hopeful in her outlook on life, challenges Ryan to come out of his comfort zone and start to be a member of the human family once again. She correctly observes that the much older Ryan is painfully immature at relationships. Young and in love herself, Natalie pressures him to decide if Alex means anything more to him than just a succession of one night stands.

Everything that George Clooney does is done first class, and this movie is no exception. It is occasionally advertised as a comedy, but it is hardly that. More a movie to reflect the downbeat times, so it is nothing if not topical. Not that companies don't deserve it, but I worry that this film will turn out to be another in a long line of anti-capitalism, corporate bashing polemics sent to us from Hollywood. (A-, SEE IT!)

Carl M. Zapffe,

The Cat's Meow Movie Critic

http://www.catsmeowmoviecritic.com