Up In The Air

George Clooney is one of the actors who I think can basically do no wrong. He picks great movies to be in, and while his performances are usually all basically a minor variation on a theme, that theme and those variations are usually just so damn good I can't fault him for it.

Such is the case with Up In The Air, a film about a man who lives most days of the year traveling around the country and firing people for a living. It's an extremely relevant film considering the economy, and one of the film's big pluses is the recruitment of actual people who lost their jobs giving their reactions to being told they were fired. It adds a somber tone to a movie that fluctuates between sadness and happiness in a fluid way that feels very real to life despite the kind of surreal life Clooney's character builds for himself.

This movie is all about contradictions: between being surrounded yet being lonely, constantly flying yet always feeling at home, giving hope and despair at the same time, and the dynamic between love and commitment. It takes a clear vision and a great script to effectively manage all these ideas without losing focus or meandering between philosophies, and this movie certainly had both.

The actors are also more than competent in their roles, especially Clooney's main competitors Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick who steal the movie right out from under him, which is no easy task. Farmiga wonderfully carries out the role of a woman much like Clooney's character ("but with a vagina") who seems to carry an instant bond with him, and Kendrick's youthful inexperience and indoctrination into Clooney's world is hilarious but also sadly revealing about just how out of touch the older people are with the world at hand.

It's a touching commentary on the world we live in, and what we carry with us. It may not be happy, but at least it tells the truth.

Up In The Air gets a 9/10.