UP IN THE AIR
When we first meet him, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is in the midst of telling an unfortunate individual that his job has been eliminated. For a moment, I thought he was playing another fixer, like Michael Clayton. And he is, sort of. Employers hire his company to break the bad news. But Ryan is in many ways the polar opposite of Michael. Yes, he’s doing the dirty work, but the perks are sweet. Bingham seems to really enjoy himself: he’s a relaxed and extremely efficient, frequent flyer, an expert at living, “up in the air.”
When newly hired Natalie (Anna Kendrick) comes up with a plan that would ground Clooney, as in firing people via live chat, his neat alone in a crowd life is threatened. So the boss (Jason Bateman) sends her “out” for training with him and this is where the transformation is supposed to happen. He challenges the absurdity removing the last shred of humanity from the process of ending someone’s livelihood, while she tries to punch some holes in the no marriage, no children position.
This film has garnered enormous buzz, for Clooney’s Oscar chances and I suppose for Best Picture, although I’m not sure it’s quite up to that level. On the other hand, it is the kind of film that seems to be passing by lightly as you watch it, but then stays with you all the way home. It’s subtly drops some complex, even existential questions in your lap. Ryan Bingham is a self-isolating professional, someone with no home other than an apartment he spend less than 2 weeks a year in and which therefore has no real comforts. His comforts are found in hotel room upgrades, Hertz Gold club rental cars and the dream of breaking into the top ten frequent flyer mile accumulators of all time. Why is this? Is it his chosen profession or has the work taken it’s toll -- what does it take to be able to fire people for a living. How do people who rake in millions in salaries distance themselves from the flood of consequences that follow layoffs: mortgage defaults, homelessness, depression, suicide.
Not only does Natalie’s 23 year old efficiency threaten Bingham’s old school lifestyle but a on the road romance with Alex (Vera Farmiga) may as well. He’s being tested and not moreso when he’s asked to talk his sister’s fiance into going through with their wedding. Clooney also gives motivational talks about lightening your load (”What’s in Your Backpack”) so we wonder how in the world, as does he, how he’ll pull it off.
I don’t just love George because he’s a ringer for the old movie star, Tyrone Power, but because he embodies a certain type of everyman fantasy so neatly: womanizing cad one minute, sensitive soul another. He generates heat but he, oddly, seems earthy, grounded. That tension works perfectly in this piece, it draws us in -- who wouldn’t mind living rootless life, moving from hotel to hotel, especially if your home base was Omaha. Yet, like moving into George’s villa in Lake Cuomo, it’s just a fantasy.
Ultimately, Up In The Air, may be conveying a message that’s grounded in eastern spirituality. In many of those traditionals the idea is that the source of all suffering is attachment: to things, to people, to this life. Given that the unemployment situation in this country, it may be the only healthy attitude to have.
Up In the Air is now playing.
Directed by Jason Reitman; written by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner based on the novel by Walter Kirn; produced by Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman; Director of Photography Eric Steelberg; edited by Daniel E. Glauberman; music by Rolfe Ken. Released by Paramount Pictures.
With: George Clooney (Ryan Bingham); Vera Farmiga (Alex Goran); Anna Kendrick (Natalie Keener); Jason Bateman (Craig Gregory); Amy Morton (Kara Bingham); Melanie Lynskey (Julie Bingham) and Sam Elliott (Maynard Finch.)
