Greetings fellow humans. Did you take the time to appreciate the fresh, free air this morning? I hope so, because very soon we will all be living underground breathing from recyclers and cursing the very sun that once kept us warm and happy. The robot apocalypse is nigh, so repent ye sinners!
On another note entirely, I recently had the good fortune to be invited to a special screening of Jason Reitman's new film Up in the Air, hosted by the director himself. Reitman, as you will no doubt recall, is the writer/director responsible for the excellent Thank You for Smoking and the game-changing Juno (though he did not write that one...we all know the stripper story by now.) He is considered one of the film world's brightest emerging talents, and having seen him talk in person, I can confirm that he is officially a cool dude (even though he is Canadian.)
The screening began with Reitman introducing the film and answering a few questions, all the while sporting a plaid flannel with a skullcap and looking for all the world like a hipster lumberjack. He told of the seven year struggle to get Up in the Air made, and how over that time the film had matured and evolved in the writing (it is adapted from a novel) as he himself went from being single to a family man. This is an important detail, because at its core, Up in the Air is about human relationships. He also spoke of how, after doing commercials and short films, he had adapted Thank You for Smoking only to be rejected by everybody. Not surprisingly, nobody wanted to make a satire on the American tobacco industry that lampooned both sides of the smoking argument equally (had it been staunchly anti-smoking I'm sure he would have had an easier time.) His break came when, out of the blue, a San Fransisco-based internet millionaire heard about the script and decided to pay for the movie himself. The lesson here, kids? Hard work and determination only pay off if you can find yourself a millionaire.
Reitman then talked about Juno, even throwing around a few jokes about the backlash to the film (which I think is more aimed at Cody's script then Reitman's directorial abilities.) After much ado, including the BBQ restaurant Fat Mat's providing Reitman with an honorary T-Shirt and bottle of sauce since they get a shout out in Up in the Air, the film rolled.
And what a film. To start off with, I firmly believe Up in the Air (to be released around Christmas) will be an Oscar contender, certainly for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is an all around impressive and emotional film that really only fails on one point: it stars George Clooney. Clooney doesn't play a character (as he seldom does) he simply acts like himself; complete with unconvincing reactions and unbearable smugness. It is a shame, too, because the rest of the cast is phenomenal to include another fantastic turn by Jason Bateman and the welcome appearance at the end of fellow Southerner, Danny McBride. Further, there are some great cameos from Zack Galiafinakis and J. K. Simmons (the dad from Juno, J. Jonah Jameson). One of the other nice casting touches was actually recording interviews with recently fired individual in St. Louis and Detroit, where the film was shot, and using them in the film. Real people telling their real stories.
Up in the Air strikes a very raw chord with its narrative, as it is essentially about a man and a company that are hired to fire people: outsourced "termination engineers" who are very good at what they do. Clooney's character literally lives "up in the air", flying from place to place to fire people for cowardly executives who can't do it themselves. In today's economic climate, a few very interesting points are raised by the film's story about the ethics behind firing employees and just what a company owes its workforce (my answer? Nothing.) Reitman said he began the script seven years ago simply as a comedy complete with absurd firing scenes with people reacting in wild ways, but by the time they started shooting earlier this year he had cut nearly all of the firing scenes out of the story. The ones that remain are poignant and thought-provoking.
However, as I previously stated, the story is about relationships, and like this years 500 Days of Summer, it doesn't seek to present a trite sort of "Hollywood" answer to love and commitment. Up in the Air, therefore, is not really a "feel good" movie. In contrast, it feels like an honest look at life and love in a modern age that has robbed most people of hope and feelings of worth, or personal connection.
Don't read that last paragraph wrong, though. The movie is funny, and at times (despite Clooney) quite charming in the same ways that Reitman's previous films were. The man certainly is a talent, and he has continued with Up in the Air to solidify his place in cinema. Take a look at the trailer at the end of this post and know that the film is excellently written, and very timely.
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