Very Belated TIFF Review: ‘Up In The Air’ Mostly Soars

Jason Reitman’s third film follows narcissistic, emotionally disconnected Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a professional bearer of bad news who’s hired by various companies to fire their employees so their pussy-footing bosses don’t have to. Ryan also happens to exhibit the requisite quirk required of a Reitman film, namely his penchant for collecting frequent flier miles (his goal is ten million) without any intention of ever using them. The open sequences that fetishize flying are comedic, stylish and fast (quick cuts of packing, traveling, flying, going through airport security), but hollow and empty; yet perhaps they work because this is exactly who the protagonist is.

“Up in the Air” really kicks into gear when young, overachieving Cornell grad Natalie — an excellent Anna Kendrick who very surprisingly goes toe-to-toe with Clooney and matches his every beat — is hired to revolutionize the operation of Ryan’s company by eliminating the relevance of his job, and creating a system in which firing can be done from the comfort of the office, via cold, heartless, video chat. One particular sequence where Kendrick calls him on the carpet for his aloof and emotionally distant life, particularly evinces some of her unexpected sharp bite. Aside from a mawkish crying sequence that feels tonally odd and out of character, we won’t be totally surprised if she earns a Supporting nomination.

Ryan is a man who prefers his 322 days a year of traveling to any time spent at home, and thus personally resents Natalie’s proposal, but he also vehemently objects to this new inhumane system of downsizing employees (Zach Galifinakis and J.K. Simmons make small appearances early on as employees who gets shitcanned). Still, his boss (Jason Bateman, nicely stretching himself a little bit) insists he and Natalie do some bonding, and sends Ryan on his final trip with the task of educating Natalie in hopes that she can glean some wisdom from her elder’s experience in order to perfect the system she’s developed.

Meanwhile, Ryan’s attempt at maintaining a no-strings-attached lifestyle is challenged when he begins a hotel/airport romance with beguiling fellow frequent flier Alex (Vera Farmiga), Ryan’s female equivalent, and someone who shares his love of the seemingly shallow and empty elite frequent flyer status.

Then there’s the “Americana” subplot which further enforces Ryan’s selfish, jackass ways as he has to fly to Omaha for his younger sister’s wedding (an excellent Melanie Lynskey, who was seemingly all over TIFF including a strong appearance in “The Informant”). Ryan estranged and alienated from his family, and these sequences further illustrate just how far detached he’s become and sort of awaken him to the fact that he’s lost his soul. There’s a wonderful sequence where he offers to walk his sister down the aisle and is summarily rebuked as it feels like an affront and an insult; he’s never been there all these years and now it’s all far too late. When he has to talk down the groom who has cold feet (an amusing Danny McBride, whose portly size and ungainly fashion makes him a perfect Middle American), he comes to the realization that he has nothing to offer because most of his adult life he has been proselytizing the virtues of never having baggage that can weigh you down. It’s meant to be literal, but this well rehearsed speech has obviously crossed over into the emotional and psychological leaving a character that realizes he’s completely spiritually bankrupt. And this transition, this awakening is handled well and flows smoothly. There’s an arc to Clooney’s Ryan, but he also doesn’t land in the calculated and commercially happy spot you’d expect.

“Up in the Air” is at its best when it enters its second half and we realize that Ryan, as much as the workers he lays off, is in a transitional period of his life and is slowly finding his humanity in the collective wreckage he’s witness to, be it the workers he has to fire or the hardships he watches family members endure. Throughout the film, we see the consequences of his sabotaged relationships and cringe as we see the signs of similar results in the making. His interactions with those he’s firing seem in fact more vulnerable and honest, and it quickly becomes clear that these stilted emotional connections are the most human kind of relationships Ryan can attain with his stunted maturity level.

Clooney’s performance reaches a peak as we see his Ryan finally beginning to take to heart the rehearsed words he’s been spouting for so many years (a keynote address about “unpacking life’s backpack”) when his limited view of life begins to expand; and the script manages to prevent any kind of unbelievable character arc, allowing Ryan to take only small steps in the direction of reform. Likewise, both Kendrick and Farmiga effectively capture their characters similar state of transition as women on the verge.

Musically and tonally, “Up In The Air,” is a bit like the growing indie-rock adult contemporary genre in that it also sports an agreeable MOR flavor, but one that is fairly safe and familiar. And while that tenor within the film isn’t as predictable as the musical genre (Wilco is fine and all, but we don’t really need to hear another album until they begin to stretch themselves) isn’t groundbreaking either. Though when it does actively goes for some of those inspiring moments, it occasionally scores big (a romantic little sequence set to Elliott Smith’s “Angel In The Snow” is genuinely sweet and tender; probably the picture’s final musical moment).

But be slightly mindful of the breathless plaudits. “Up In The Air,” is not a life-altering game changer nor is Jason Reitman the heir apparent to Billy Wilder as some have suggested. While the picture does possess emotional textures – some of them with more heart than we expected – it’s also not the soulful and humanistic touchstone of the year some have claimed. Yet it really could have been if just pushed every so slightly.

Reitman couldn’t have possibly anticipated how timely this film would find itself at the moment of its release, but “Up in the Air” does an excellent job at humanizing the economic crisis our country now faces, and it’s this reverence which thwarts most of the cuteness which tends to pepper Reitman’s work, and does so again here. The end result is funny, touching and even a little profound, yet sometimes emotionally restrained and still somewhat distant. Reitman does have the tendency to get sentimental, and here he wisely dials it down. But ‘Air’ could have used just that little bit of opening on the emotional valve that could have truly made this one a a flyby winner. [B+] –Luke Gorham