The Case for Air Points

Combine the roguish charm of the effortlessly charming George Clooney with the talent and skill of the director responsible for Juno and what do you get? You get Up in the Air, which is a good film, but which pales in comparison with Juno and Clooney’s last effort, last week’s Fantastic Mr Fox.

The film follows Clooney’s character Ryan hitting the road (or the sky, hence the title) for a few months, and recalling his encounters with gorgeous fellow jet setters (Vera Farmiga’s Alex is completely captivating) and more homely relatives (such as a Kiwi nod to Melanie Lynskey as Ruan’s sister Julie there), as well as workmates (an all-business Jason Bateman) and those he is expected to fire. Ryan as a role that, if not written for Clooney, is hard to imagine in the thespian hands of anyone else. He has the affable demeanour yet underlying hard edge that the role requires – it is interesting to compare his own cool charm kiss with that of his associate.

To me, Ryan has a strange “only in America” kind of job: he gets to fire people for bosses who are too cowardly to do it themselves. And in the recent recession, the business was booming. Luckily, Ryan loves it – or rather, the lifestyle that comes with it. But as befits this kind of movie, this lifestyle comes into question when he gets pregnant. Actually, that was the other movie.

Juno was a lot funnier than this one, and there were some very deep moments – I have never had more respect for Jennifer Garner than I had after I saw that film. Up in the Air manages to be funny at times and quite poignant too (especially for we older, single folk), but never quite reaches the heights and depths of Jason Reitman’s first film. Its not for lack of star power – the film’s cast members are all fantastic (J K Simmons gets a small role) – but the subject matter just doesn’t lend itself as easily to fish-out-of-water situations and extreme reactions. The moments are smaller, the emotions several notches below hysterical.

Which is all to say that Up in the Air is good, just not a great or ground breaking film. It certainly kept me entertained for the two hour duration, and spoke to me at times of my own experiences and the differing priorities people have at different times of their lives.

I would like to say more about that, but I don’t want to wander into spoiler territory. The ending will, by anti-spoiler necessity, have to remain an undiscussed country. Suffice to say that Ryan and Julie do not end up on their back porch singing.

Verdict: Up in the Air is a fun, entertaining, and at times quite challenging (in a belief way, not a “why am I sitting through this” kind of way), and definitely worth a view. It does not need big screen treatment, but should make a great evening’s movie choice for those who don’t mind a healthy does of cynicism mixed in among their sugar. 8,000 airpoints out of 10,000.