Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Up In The Air Review


It's been way too long since the last time I posted anything, I have just been very busy recently. Anyways, on Marting Luther King Jr. Day I went to the theater and saw Up In The Air.
To begin, I will say that Up In The Air is now in my top 5 movies of 2009. If you haven't seen it, go see it ASAP! I don't think I really have anything bad to say about the movie.
The basic plot is that George Clooney's job is to go around the country and fire people. Because of his job, he is always on airplanes and rarely spends any time at home. He embraces this lifestyle because of a personal goal to reach 10,000,000 miles. However, a new employee at his company introduces the idea of firing people via webcams, which would eliminate the need to travel around the country. I won't say much else about the plot because I don't want to ruin anything, but the movie is much deeper than what I described.
Clooney's performance is what carries the film with his complex and likeable character. This is truly the best performance I have seen from Clooney. The rest of the cast is great too with strong performances from Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. The actors have such great chemistry on-screen that makes all the interactions and dialogue feel real and believable.
It's hard to classify Up In The Air in just one genre. It's part comedy, part drama, and part romance. The elements from all these genres combined help create an excellent, complete film. The first and second acts are definitely more comedy, while the third act shifts to more of a drama. I thought it was a great blanace though, with more laugh out loud moments than I expected and more deep emotional scenes that I expected.
The timing of the movie couldn't be better. There are some important underlying messages about unemployment and enjoying life despite your financial situation. Now more than ever people are feeling the effects of the economic crisis, my family included, so the messages about unemployment will be relevant to most audiences.
I also enjoyed Up In The Air so much because of the setting. I myself spend a lot of time in airports and on airplanes, so it all felt familiar. If you don't travel much, you might not get as much out of it as I did, but it certainly is easier to relate to if you travel a lot.
I can't say enough good things about Up In The Air, you simply MUST SEE IT!
Bottom Line: 10/10