Up in the Air

Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (2009) is a decent little romantic dramedy that breaks no new ground. It's wholly predictable but for a well-done, semi-unconventional ending. It makes for pleasant enough viewing, but is it really Best Picture material?

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a career-transition counselor whose job is basically to fly around the country firing people. He's reasonably content with this, until he hooks up with Alex (Vera Farmiga), a fellow workaholic who catches his eye. Ryan is upset that his company is planning to cut back on his department, firing people over the Internet instead of face-to-face. Ryan develops a mentor relationship with the perky Natalie (Anna Kendrick), an ambitious college graduate already disappointed with life, and he begins to wonder if there's more to life than riding airplanes and firing people.

Up in the Air looks at relationships in the modern world, where text messages and Internet replace face-to-face contact and phone calls. Relationships are constantly thwarted, from Ryan and Alex's fling, to Natalie's flightly boyfriend, to Ryan's sister (Melanie Lynskey) and her schlub of a fiancee (Danny McBride). Some of the best moments involve the employees' reactions to being fired: face-to-face firing results in some comfort in human contact, but over the Internet is simply cruel, as in the heartbreaking scene with a 57-year old man (Steve Eastin). Relationships, jobs and homes are usually taken for granted, but in a world where employees spend most of their lives on the road, most human contact is through computer screens and iPhones, and the economy is in the toilet, they're increasingly alien concepts.

Interesting thematic material aside, the movie is fairly safe in its approach to the material. It's mostly benign fluff, coasting on a familiar romantic plot, gentle wit and likeable characters for most of its length. Bateman's direction is safe and not particularly distinguished, with a soundtrack of mellow tunes to keep the audience sedated. In the final half hour, the movie approaches poignance, taking a left-turn from conventionality without dripping in maudlin sentiment. It's appreciated, and the movie deserves credit for its handling of this, even if the rest is fairly banal.

George Clooney gives another fine performance, hitting the right notes of dissatisfaction and longing. Vera Farmiga (The Departed) is the one weak link, her character too much of the cynical woman-of-the-world type. Anna Kendrick (Twilight) is cute and vulnerable as Natalie, and I hope to see her in more stuff not involving sparkly vampires. Jason Bateman (Juno), Melanie Lynskey (The Informant!), Steve Eastin (Catch Me If You Can) and J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) are fine in small parts, and Sam Elliot's Moustache (Tombstone) makes an amusing cameo.

Up in the Air is a decent-enough one-time viewing, but if this is what's getting Best Picture nominations - well, I'm not really regretting my decision to forego Oscar Quest this year.