ongoing
Nuance. Let’s hear it for nuance. Let’s hear if for multiple layers, a story that weaves themes, that gives us characters that aren’t altogether wonderful or evil. Hey, isn’t it nice to go out to a movie and not to be banged over the head, preached to or patronized? To be treated as, well, adults. "Up in the Air," with George Clooney as the le
ad and Jason Reitman in the director’s chair, is that success story. Clooney is Ryan Bingham, whose job it is to go around the country, from workplace to workplace, giving the euphemistic news to once-valued employees that their services are no longer needed. Part of the game, as is explained, is not to use the word "fired." It’s all about opportunity! Yes, you’re doing the dirty job the company doesn’t want to do itself, giving that 57-year-old guy a chance to be set free and build his own empire!
Bingham is, by choice, a single man with no desire to settle down, in a city or with a woman. His aim, his purpose in life, is collect 10 million flying miles which will give him … well, he’s not sure, but he’ll be only the 7th American Airlines customer to hit that status. He travels light, moves fast, thinks of himself as a shark and, yet, there’s Clooney for you, is darn likable, even as he’s playing a guy who lives for his job, that is, telling others they have none. Yes, you can be sure, there are lessons to be learned for Bingham along the way. And for his young companion Natalie (Anna Kendrick), who plays the hotshot newcomer who’s introduced the idea of remote on-line downsizing to her company. This is anathema to Bingham – he lives for this travel and he’s met the woman of his dreams, Alex (Vera Farmiga) out an airport bar. They’re apparently a matched pair. "I’m just like you but with a vagina," she tells him.
Their story is one thread. The wrenching stories of the "downsized’ are another. Some are real people who’s jobs were slashed – Reitman interviewed them saying he was doing a documentary and they wound up in the film. (We assume he got clearance to use them in this movie.) Others area actors, including the wonderful J.K. Simmons, whose pain and anger is palpable. This is the American story of the day (year? era?) and Reitman nails it perfectly. The employees are but statistics to the company – remember the adage "Never fall in love with the company, because it never falls in love with you"? When Bingham and then Bingham and Natalie travel from city-to-city doing their dirty – um, necessary – deeds, you meet the victims. Briefly, but you feel their loss. Like a death in the family one says, or like being killed, effectively exiled from the "work family" they held close up until the moment of unexpected execution.
Reitman does a masterful juggling act here, in tone and tale. There’s nothing treacly about the sentiments expressed. And Natalie’s journey through over-confident know-it-all to a more wised-up vet is also part of the mix. Bingham’s evolution from proud, no-baggage, loner jet setter to a person more open to human emotions and relationships is probably the main story. It’s the one we’re left with. But there’s so much to take home. This director is somewhat who got our interest with "Thank You for Not Smoking" and "Juno," but this is his best work yet.
Tickets: $9.75 or so. At Fenway Regal, Coolidge Corner, Kendall Square Landmark Theatres, Loews Boston Common, suburbs.
