Up in the Air (2009/I)

Director:

Jason Reitman

Writers (WGA):

Jason Reitman (screenplay) and
Sheldon Turner (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The story of a man ready to make a connection.

Plot:

With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.

Plot Keywords:

Airport | Economics | Corporation | Business | Airplane

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Golden Globes. Another 12 wins & 22 nominations

US Showtimes:

The Bridge: Cinema de lux

11:45am | 2:15pm | 4:45 | 7:15 | 8:45 | 9:45

(personalize)

Cast

George Clooney	...	Ryan Bingham
Vera Farmiga	...	Alex Goran
Anna Kendrick	...	Natalie Keener
Jason Bateman	...	Craig Gregory
Amy Morton	...	Kara Bingham
Melanie Lynskey	...	Julie Bingham
J.K. Simmons	...	Bob
Sam Elliott	...	Maynard Finch
Danny McBride	...	Jim Miller
Zach Galifianakis	...	Steve
Chris Lowell	...	Kevin
Steve Eastin	...	Samuels
Marvin Young	...	Himself (as Young MC)
Lucas MacFadden	...	Conference DJ (as Cut Chemist)
Adrienne Lamping	...	Tammy

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

USA:109 min | Canada:108 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #45561) | New Zealand:M | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Japan:G | Canada:G (Quebec) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Affton High School, Affton, Missouri, USA

Company:

Cold Spring Pictures

Trivia:

Jason Reitman began writing the screenplay in 2002 when the economy was booming and planned to make it as his first feature. The opportunity to make Thank You for Smoking (2005) and Juno (2007) presented themselves and he put this off until this year, meanwhile America plummeted into an economic recession. He said the film's tone changed completely in response to the real world crisis and works much better now as a topical piece than it would have a decade ago, the delays in its realization being fortuitous.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The scene in which Ryan is in an airport in Detroit is clearly filmed at the McNamara terminal (as can be determined by the iconic fountain and the signs for Continental at one of the B gates). However, it's made very clear in the movie that Ryan only flies on American, and American doesn't have gates at the McNamara terminal (it uses the North terminal).

Quotes:

Ryan Bingham: How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life... you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV...

A '00s Masterpiece

So 2009, and the decade known as...(what do we call this decade?), are ending later this month. And there is no better film to wrap up a (frankly) terrible decade (in terms of news events, unemployment, the economy, the media stronghold, the trashing and dumbing down of American culture, technology, narcissism, vanity obsession, a divided nation, violence and hostility) than Up in the Air. The film, the best I've seen all year and one of the best of the decade, captures many of the factors that made this decade the worst one, at least in my 42 years. The 70s may have been bad economically but hey, at least we had Bruce Springsteen and real music on the radio, women still seemed to like men and not only if the men were millionaires, thoughtful movies in the theater, and only five or so TV channels to pick from. Up in the Air features George Clooney as a man with no "roots," (that is, no wife, no kids, and his apartment in Omaha is about as furnished as a room at Embassy Suites), who fires people for a living because the companies who hire him are too cowardly to do it themselves. It is a juicy role for Clooney, who has made a career out of playing easy-talking charmers. The film sounds depressing and in many ways it is, but it is also witty, quietly hilarious at times, and full of pathos when it becomes a morality piece near the middle (and like the best morality pieces, it doesn't shove its message down your throat). It reminded me in many ways of American Beauty, the masterpiece that capped off the '90s when it hit theaters ten years ago. Clooney's character slowly is stripped of the things he only cared about--including a one-night-stand that becomes a "Same Time Next Year"-like meeting in Hampton Inns and Hiltons in Miami, Detroit, Wichita and other random cities, with another constant traveler (we never know what exactly she does, and that's not supposed to matter) played by Vera Farmiga, who may win an Oscar nomination for her mysterious, slightly passive and jaded, 30something character. The final important character is an eager young Cornell graduate (played by Anna Kendrick, from Twilight) who thinks that a career in firing people is a wise choice now, and in some respects she's not that far off. Her character represents many of the Twitter-obsessed twentysomethings driven for money money money, who live for texting, and has naive and even immature ideals of what makes a relationship work. But she too goes through a transformation, as Up in the Air reaches a "feel good while feeling bad" quality of Frank Capra's darker films, like Meet John Doe. One of the most amazing things about this film is its use of real people in the "firing scenes;" people who have really lost their jobs several weeks or months before being filmed. Director Jason Reitman combines scenes of these people being fired by Clooney and Kendrick, and their instant responses are wholly authentic. There are a few actors playing the "firees" as well, but they blend in with the real folks. I really can't think of a better film to cap off this decade. This one will stay with you. Highly recommended.