With the movie award season upon us, Sensenig at the Cinema will be taking a look at some of the movies garnering the most attention in an attempt to see whether they are worthy of the hype surrounding them.
It’s a pretty well-known fact the U.S. economy is not at the height of its glory these days, and hasn’t been for a few years. Despite reports suggesting things are finally beginning to turn around, plenty of folks are still losing their jobs. Oftentimes, their identity and sense of pride go right out the window with them.
No one knows this better than Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney in “Up in the Air,” a romantic “dramedy” directed by Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Thank You For Smoking”) garnering considerable attention in the “best picture” category of the upcoming award shows.
Bingham makes a living letting people know their position is no longer available (“Never say ’fired,’” he says). Essentially, he does the dirty deed for bosses around the country who are too chicken to do it on their own. Judging by the amount of time Bingham spends “up in the air,” there are a lot of chicken bosses willing to pay someone to come in and tell their employees they can no longer afford to pay them.
After he brings the worlds of these former workers crashing to the ground, he attempts to avoid the development of “a scene” by pointing out the possibility of hope and a light at the end of the tunnel ““ even if, in this economy, that light is the size of a pinhole.
While many of us despise our time spent in airports because of the long lines, stress and awkward encounters with our fellow man associated with them, Bingham thrives on it. Last year, he spent 322 days on the road, which means he only had to spend 43 days in his miserable, bare-bones apartment in Omaha, Nebraska.
He likes the noncommittal lifestyle associated with not having deep roots anywhere, of the bachelor-driven pleasures that come along with not being tied to any one person, place or thing. In this way, Bingham give Clooney the chance to play himself ““ or at least our perception of the modern-day playboy with the aw-shucks smile that makes females drop in his wake.
Not so surprisingly, it’s a role he plays well.
After a chance encounter with Alex (Vera Farmiga), a sexually-confident female who also spends a good portion of her time looking at departure and arrival schedules — in essence, she’s Bingham in the female form — Bingham begins to come around to the notion that sometimes it’s not so bad to be surrounded by people other than the overweight salesman with bad breath from Des Moines next to you in first class.
In the meantime, his true love — being on the road — is threatened when his company decides to cut costs and terminate positions via a T1 fiber optic line rather than in person. In his last few weeks on the road, he’s ordered to take the new girl developing the computer approach to his job along with him, showing her what firing people is all about. Natalie (Anna Kendrick) is confident yet naïve, both in her approach to her job and to relationships. She went to Omaha to follow a boy and doesn’t see how Bingham can float through life without ever wanting to get married and have kids.
“Up in the Air” wears many genre hats: part romantic comedy, part documentary of the current American job experience, part inspirational drama. At different times, each of the hats fit perfectly.
As a romantic comedy, it’s a more cynical, less obvious take on stories we’ve seen done by the likes of Meg Ryan and Richard Gere many times before ““ and it’s sometimes even laugh-out-loud funny, a rarity in most romantic comedies. As a documentary, it’s effective in showing the anger, resentment and outright sadness that come with losing a job ”“ particularly when a 57-year-old man in Detroit starts crying when Natalie informs him he’s going to have to look for a new job. And the film also manages to take an inspirational tone when Bingham somehow convinces a fired employee that being handed a blank slate enables him the opportunity to make his children proud as he can now pursue his dream job.
It’s powerful stuff at times ““ most times, even. However, delving into so many realms occasionally spreads the film too thin, watering down the quality work of all involved. It’s a relatively minor gripe, but too many different destinations can be a little ambitious for a film to tackle in less than two hours.
One unexpected moment arrives when rapper of yesteryear Young MC — looking more like Middle-Age MC — performs “Bust a Move” in his most memorable appearance since ... well, since the “Bust a Move” music video debuted in 1989.
A movie about a man — George Clooney or not — who travels the country giving people some of the worst news of their lives is never going to trump the audiences herding to theaters to see a gazillion dollar, 3-D cinematic explosion about blue aliens fighting on a distant moon, but chances are it will give you more perspective on the world around you.
Despite the solid, well-rounded performances of Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick, I don’t think there’s enough standout material here for the “Best Picture” skies to be that friendly to “Up in the Air.”
Joel Sensenig is news editor of the Review Times. If given the choice, he would rather not sit next to overweight businessmen with bad breath from Des Moines ““ even if it is in first class.