When we first meet him, Ryan Bingham is perfectly happy with his lot in life. A content singleton, he gets to travel the country for more than 300 days a year, and even dreads the short periods he has to spend at home in Omaha, Nebraska. His life's goal is to collect 10 million air miles. Then, though, he crosses paths with Alex (the luminous Vera Farmiga, relishing a fully rounded role), who has the same job. They immediately hit it off, both apparently happy with a casual relationship. The film tracks the development of their relationship organically and believably; it never feels like it has been shaped into the typical movie romance, or forced into a three-act structure. Moreover the chemistry between Clooney and Farmiga is electric, their fleeting moments together sparkling with charm and brilliantly written, yet never ostentatious, dialogue.
Also excellent is Anna Kendrick, as Natalie, a young career-driven upstart with big ideas for the industry. Soon her early bluster and forced chirpiness is chipped away to reveal another relatable character with insecurities and vulnerability. Although the film is mostly focused on Ryan and Alex, Natalie's thread is almost as important and provides the sort of uplifting narrative closure that the central romance does not. On first watch such lack of a conventional resolution may feel unsatisfying, but hindsight enriches it. This is far from the typical boy meets girl slushfest, and Reitman proves completely immune to the pull of sentimentality. That's not to say the film feels cold or impersonal, though; far from it, in fact. Up in the Air is a deeply personal, humanistic film, but also one that's content to face realities, be it the world economic crisis or the fact that not all stories in life end how you want.
Reitman nails the tone. A film about people losing their jobs is a sensitive subject in the current climate, but Reitman treats the firings with the utmost sincerity. This is not an ironic satire like the director's earlier Thank You for Smoking (when Reitman first started writing on the script years ago, it was). In fact, many of the firees are real people who have recently been made redundant, who do a good job re-enacting their emotions in front of the camera. The styling isn't what you'd call cinema vérité but it does feel similarly real, thanks to the honesty of the script and extensive location filming. Nevertheless, it's by no means a dour, humourless affair, one comedic highlight being the ubiquitous Zak Galifianakis as a particularly unhinged firing victim - not to mention the zippy repartée Clooney shares with Farmiga and Kendrick.
Release Information
Country: UK / Region: B (unconfirmed) / Version: N/A / Discs: 1 / Distributor: Paramount
Presentation
Paramount continues to impress with its high-def releases (just see Star Trek, The Lovely Bones, Shutter Island, Iron Man 2, and more - all demo quality material). Up in the Air, on the face of it not a movie that would hugely benefit from a 1080p rendering, looks great here. The image is largely naturalistic but colour (particularly blues) boast a realistic vibrancy and an untampered-with grain structure brings out immense detail. The frequent aerial shots are particularly striking. Meanwhile, the DTS-HD soundtrack is not often tested to the full, but on occasion - such as during a bass-heavy clubbing scene - it demonstrates excellent depth and dimensionality.
Extras
The disc lets the side down a little on the extras front, as what appears a decent list of supplements actually turns out to be relatively meagre. Best is the loquacious commentary with the director, DP and 1st AD. Reitman proves a great talker, delivering a huge number of anecdotes with humour and honesty. His commentary extends to the deleted scenes, of which there are about 23 minutes' worth. Some are the usual extraneous stuff, but there are a couple well worth noting. The longest cut sequence is an extended montage from late in the film of Clooney adjusting to life on the ground. It's excellent, and a puzzling omission. On the other hand, there's also a surreal sequence in which Clooney is walking around dressed as an astronaut. Needless to say, it's utterly out of place. There's really very little else on the disc, though: a short look at the title sequence, a music video, and trailers.
Summary
Up in the Air is a pleasant surprise. Even with its great reviews and Oscar nominations, that premise just doesn't sound promising. Against the odds, though, it turns out to be a compelling, romantic, and unconventional drama.
No comments:
Post a Comment