Hope you’re ready to rack up some frequent flyer miles, because this week’s Disc Dive has us bouncing from one city to the next in Up in the Air.
Title: Up in the Air
Director: Jason Reitman
Released: December 4, 2009 (Theatrical – Canada and the United States)
Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes
Disc Format: Blu-ray
Last year, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) spent 43 days at home, he hated every one of them. Ryan much prefers life on the road. It’s where he feels alive. If there was an Olympic medal for efficiency in the TSA line, he’d win gold every time.
So what’s he do for a living? Well, when your company does a round of layoffs but your boss doesn’t have the spine to do it themselves, in comes Ryan. Doesn’t matter where in the United States you are, he flies in, plays the bad guy, then it’s off to the next one.
While in Dallas, he meets Amy (Vera Farmiga) at the hotel bar. They immediately hit it off by flirting about which rental car company provides the best rewards program. This evolves into full-on corporate foreplay with them comparing their loyalty credit cards and awards programs. After hooking up, they sit down, open their laptops, and compare work schedules to see where they can hook up again while on the road.
Meanwhile, Ryan gets called back to Omaha. His boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), informs him that a young newcomer named Natalie (Anna Kendrick) has figured out how to do layoffs over teleconference, which would basically eliminate his job on the road. Ryan’s mind immediately starts poking holes in the new plan. Natalie’s there to show how it works on a screen. Craig watches it fall apart as she tries to lay off Ryan and decides the only way forward is to send them out together, old school.
One last road trip to see whether Natalie’s inexperience gets exposed in the field, or whether Ryan actually likes this life as much as he thinks he does.
The cast is great. From Zach Galifianakis and J.K. Simmons being two of the ones getting fired to Bateman as Ryan’s boss and Anna Kendrick as Natalie, the one trying to streamline Ryan’s job by doing everything remotely.
Every time I watch George Clooney act it’s an absolute delight. Even when he’s cold and rough around the edges he’s got this charm that just doesn’t really turn off. It’s all there in this role. He and Kendrick have a good mentor-mentee friction on the road. She holds her own and goes toe-to-toe with him. He and Farmiga are electric in a completely different way.
I haven’t read the source material but I’d like to. You’ve got a business drama that slowly turns into something lonelier, all wrapped inside a messy romance.
And honestly it’s the romance that sticks. Clooney and Farmiga are just great together. There’s an ease to them that carries through the highs and lows.
The soundtrack is a surprise hit as well on a rewatch. An eclectic mix that just works. The Elliott Smith needle drop in the school was a highlight. Though for as often as he’s in Omaha, still feels like a missed opportunity not to drop “Omaha” by Counting Crows.
Up in the Air went 0-for-6 at the Oscars. Hurt Locker, Crazy Heart, and Precious beat it in each respective category. Still, easy to see why it was in the conversation. Easier in hindsight to argue it deserved at least one.
This wasn’t a first time watch but it absolutely holds up.
Interested to hear how this one has aged for you.