Up in The Air movie review from modmove

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Up in The Air
For those that have spent any time in the modern airport (post 9/11) you know there are few things in life less fun. Basing a comedy around a frequent flyer of today therefore seems a herculean task. It takes all of George Clooney’s acting charm and director/screenplay writer Jason Reitman’s skills to pull it off but succeed they do.

Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is a man who makes a living by flying around the eastern states in America firing people on behalf of employers too cowardly to be the hatchet men themselves. He has his travel system down to a science and excels in dealing with just about anything thrown his way except when it comes to committing to a substantial human relationship. Circumstance at work change and he is forced to take a young protégé with him on the road, starting a chain of events that cause a change of mindset.

This film is very dependent on its dialogue and the screenplay written by Reitman and Sheldon Turner based on a book by Walter Kirn is more than up to the task. The good lines are impossibly sharp and even the throw away ones strike more often than not. The character’s actions are also kept firmly in the realm of believable and this adds to the film’s appeal.

The film ends with a situation that while you see it coming from a ways off, fits perfectly with how things often play out in real life. Staying clear of scenes that would invalidate its underlying meaning just to get cheap laughs while creating intelligent humour is unusual and this becomes one of the film’s best accomplishments.
Rob Hudson
www.theupintheairmovie.com


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