Up In the Air Movie Review

George Clooney + Jason Reitman + Oscar nominations =… Despite the promise, I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie. Of course, you’ve got Clooney who’s an amazing actor, but nonetheless often cast in the stereotyped role of the charming, perpetual bachelor. Which, let’s face it, can get boring to watch when the art so seamlessly imitates the actor’s life.

Luckily for Clooney, it seems that the end of this breed of effortless roles is nearing. Apparently, he has now reached the appropriate age to start playing the role of the less-charming-more-pathetic, lonely bachelor. So the question is: do you want to spend almost two hours watching a midlife crisis unfold? Better yet, do you want it to be force-fed a mild, palatable version cooked up by the same man who brought you Juno)? Well, maybe. Here’s why.

1. Anna Kendrick. Kendrick plays the ambitious yet socially-challenged young colleague at Clooney’s job. She does more than hold her own in every scene with Clooney: she in fact, owns them. It’s a hard thing for a female lead to be a scene-stealer, which is why Clooney does not often share the screen with strong actresses.

2. It’s socially relevant. If you haven’t had enough of "recessionomics" and would like to bathe in the despair of seeing other people get royally screwed by Corporate America, it does that. But conversely, it does its tiny little Hollywood part to humanize and document this point in American history. This movie really drives home an important lesson: the only way to live without fear is to be self-employed.

3. It really does challenge Clooney as an actor. Reitman strips him of the cocky attitude, the ruthlessness one would assume his job requires and the Playboy-esque revolving door of women. Without these typical crutches, there is a sensitivity and a tiredness that I haven’t really seen him do too often. By the end of the film, there is no question he deserved his Academy nomination.