Up In the Air

Director: Jason Reitman
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

In an appropriately-timed release, Jason Reitman's follow-up to Juno offers less quippy, equally apt commentary on the economic situation our country faces, and the individual lives affected by downsizing -- on both sides of the spectrum, to a certain extent.

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a fast-talking, credit card-carrying businessman with membership in countless hotel frequent-user clubs and close to 10 million American Airline miles.  And that's about all he has.  Whatever doesn't fit into his suitcase doesn't seem to fit into his life, and between cross-country trips to fire people, he lectures on exactly that -- how to lighten your backpack in life.

Did you catch that his job is to fire people?  In an interesting twist, his company (headed by Reitman staple Jason Bateman) has hired an upstart Cornell grad named Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) to streamline their firing model.  She has come up with a fire-by-video-chat method that would cut the company's excessive travel budget significantly -- and effectively cut the Cloon's relevance significantly as well.

In a searing scene, Ryan proves that he and the firing process are not ready to be streamlined by Natalie -- what could her computer terminal angel of doom do if the subject walked away, for example?  Instead of prompting his boss to fire her, however, his critique sets up a shadowing trip, where Natalie follows him on his next trip around the country, learning about his process and honing hers.  Her presence significantly impedes him in his scheduled liaisons with Alex (Vera Farmiga), a like-minded businesswoman.  Natalie's wide-eyed innocence encourages him to actually teach her, but also makes him start to question the lack of human substance in his life.

A few gems in this movie include the opening sequence and song, the throw-away Amelie reference, and the prevailing humanity of Ryan and Natalie.  I was shocked, for example, to find myself rooting for Ryan and his methods, thinking "Yes, it's much better to be fired in person.  What could she be thinking?!" and only afterwards thinking, "Wait... they're still getting fired!!"  But for all her prissiness, Anna Kendrick does a good job of combining the ambition of Natalie with her inexperience.  She's very real.

Although I'm not entirely convinced that this movie totally deserves all the nominations it has already garnered, it's definitely a good film and worth catching in order to make your own call.