Back To The Feature: Up in the Air

Welcome to another article highlighting those great movies which you may have missed. With the release of Tomorrowland this week it is a great opportunity to highlight one of the most prolific movie stars in the industry today, George Clooney. George Clooney has been around for such a long, long time. In the future we may be able to talk about some others like Fanstastic Mr. Fox (2009) or Three Kings (1999) etc. This week we will delve into the Jason Reitman directed film Up in the Air.

So why have I chosen Up in the Air. Yes, it’s a film that has all the Clooney mannerisms, which if you’re like me you’ll eat up. Clooney can perform a monologue like no man. Essentially, Up in the Air is about a man whose job is to go around to different companies who hire him to fire their employees. He has it down to such an art that it’s incredibly compelling to watch. We are then introduced to Anna Kendrick’s (Pitch Perfect) character who is the new prodigy with a young forward thinking mind that threatens Clooney’s lifestyle of travelling all over the country and his isolation. Her idea is to cut costs by firing people via webcam. A tactic which makes an extraordinary difficult situation, possibly even more impersonal. Then it terms into a different type of road trip film where Clooney has to show Kendrick the ropes.

It has great supporting characters with Vera Farmiga (The Departed) playing a romantic interest for Clooney who are so great together. Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses) makes a small cameo who creates some more levity to some pretty dark scenarios. This is Probably Reitman’s last great film that he has done, Labor Day (2013) and Men, Women and Children (2014) were not critically or financially successful. Let’s hope he can get back to movies like Up in the Air, Thank You for Smoking (2005) and Juno (2007).