Husband and I went to see Up in the Air this past weekend and I thought I'd share some thoughts. For those of you who haven't heard about this movie, it is the latest George Clooney flick. Directed by Jason Reitman, it also stars the lovely Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. Clooney plays a hired gun of sorts, a man who flies around the country firing people whose companies are too cowardly to fire their own employees. He reluctantly mentors Kendrick's character and not at all reluctantly beds Farmiga's. Kendrick was new to me, by the way, and just great. All the acting in this film was great, actually. I was very impressed by all the great small parts - primarily the people Clooney fires - throughout the film. Who knew Spiderman's nasty boss could be such a softie?Up in the Air was, by turns, laugh out loud funny and incredibly sad. It was just a bittersweet, wonderful movie, that perfectly captures this era we're in.
Now I'm going to mention some potentially spoiler-y things, so CAUTION and stop reading if you are fearful of spoilers.
Husband and I spent some time after the movie talking about the ending. I was surprised by it. I thought it worked well, don't get me wrong. But I was just expecting that in typical fashion, they'd either make it very happy or very sad. Instead, I found the end to be, like the rest of the movie, bittersweet. It was hopeful but not exactly happy. /Spoilers
All in all, I really liked Up in the Air and strongly recommend it. Oh, and for the ladies, George isn't so hard on the eyes, you know?
I liked the movie too!
ReplyDeleteNice review! I totally agree with you - my favorite part about the film was its ending. Cheers to Reitman for not taking the easy way out and tying things up in a bow! Also, yes, Kendrick's performance was outstanding. I mean, OUTSTANDING! She absolutely nailed it.
ReplyDeleteThis movie definitely deserves all its positive press! I hope it takes home Best Picture, too...
The image that really sticks with me from that movie is when the two go to do layoffs in a company which has clearly already been devastated by layoffs. They walk through an office with just a couple of desks and phones on the floor, pulling their luggage behind them.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing was great. You heard that many of the interviews for the layoffs were with people who had really been laid off?
Laura, that's what I heard. No wonder they were so powerful. And that scene - I seriously choked up when I saw it.
ReplyDeletelorin, i totally agree about the ending. i was so surprised. i was totally expecting the happy ending, and normally love when the ending isn't typical hollywood, but found myself bummed with the way they left it. but it definitely made me think about it more... good stuff!
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