Review: Up in the Air (2009) ****
Does this man have it all figured out or is he simply Up in the Air?
(This review was originally written for Awards Daily)
Endings are a killer. They can make a good movie great or they can make a good movie bad. For most of its running time, Jason Reitman’s adaptation of Walter Kern’s novel Up in the Air is a good movie. It purrs along competently and professionally, entertaining while never surprising or offending. Like its star George Clooney, it is slick, good-looking and mostly flawless, but for a while it goes down a little too easily and it flirts with being disposable. Just when it threatens to dissolve into a vapor of likeability however, the film sticks its landing like an Olympic gymnast who saves his most difficult routine for last. With an ending that strikes the perfect note and feels decidedly “right,” Up in the Air in its closing moments is transformed from a good film into a memorable one.
Click to read the entire review over at AD.
Filed under: Reviews
Tags: Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Jason Reitman, Up in the Air, Vera Farmiga
This is a wonderful review, Craig. Congratulations. I love this line:
Just when it threatens to dissolve into a vapor of likeability however, the film sticks its landing like an Olympic gymnast who saves his most difficult routine for last.
Thanks A. I’m grateful to Sasha for giving me a chance to be seen by other readers.
Slick
Annoying
Uneasy blend between popular and art
Trendy existential context
Plenty of intended humor that falls flat
Emotionally distancing to the extreme
George Clooney playing George Clooney
Result: a bust. (2 stars of 5)
I realize Craig you did not regard this film as CITIZEN KANE, and admitted it wouldn’t make your Top 10, so even though we are not on the same page, we aren’t diametrically opposed either.
Great, great review as always.
Yeah, I kind of tried to warn you even as I enjoyed it for myself. The ending was the difference for me and I think Clooney playing Clooney was the point up until that end.
I didn’t see it as an uneasy blend of popular and art, it was mostly just popular and I judged it on those terms.
I really would like to see this. Press screening is Tuesday, might have to hitchhike to get there but…I think it will be worth it. Looks great to moi.
“I think Clooney playing Clooney was the point up until that end.”
Perhaps if I agreed with that statement I would have liked the film more. But should this film mwin Oscar’s top prize it will surely be the worst decision in their history.
Hey Nick, this is no JUNO, a movie you and I liked quite a bit. So for me Reitman had one winner, and two I’d rather not talk about, SMOKING and now UP IN THE AIR.
Nick! Good to see you, man.
Sam, I’ll be at peace when Up in the Air wins. It’s not my personal pick, but it’s fine. Did you read the AO Scott piece about Up in the Air and Jerry Maguire? I linked it somewhere below.
And no, Up in the Air is no Juno, it’s better!
Sam, I’m curious what it was about THANK YOU FOR SMOKING that you disliked. I really enjoyed that movie.
And no, Up in the Air is no Juno, it’s better!
That’s YOUR opinion Sir, not mine, thank you. Ironically, JUNO scored several points higher on RT, despite UP’s pre-eminence. And why pray tell Craig, will you be at “peace” when it wins? (if it wins). Wouldn’t you rather see something far more deserving like BRIGHT STAR, A SERIOUS MAN, UP, or BAD LIEUTENANT win? Why will you be at peace if the winning film is one that didn’t even make your Top 10? I don’t get it. Two days after I saw this crushing mediocrity I must admit I’ve completely forgotten about it.
And lest I be looked at as an anti-multiplex snob, I just got in from EVERYBODY’S FINE with Robert DeNiro, which was quite the pleasant surprise. It was nuanced, probing and affecting and DeNiro was quite good. Who woulda thunk that this film would be better?
Looks like that fabulous Ms. Stephanie Zahareck, got it right yet again when she said this about UP IN THE AIR:
“The picture is brushed with a fine glaze of slickness, a product sealed in a blister pack. It’s like airplane air — it has a packaged freshness that isn’t really fresh at all.”
And Zahareck also delighted me when she joined an impressed minority is praising EVERYBODY’S FINE.
Alison, as always I respect your opinion, but I found SMOKING a one-note study with little character depth and an underlying triteness. But that’s my opinion, which is worth no more than anyone else’s, including yours.
Nicky, god damn it.
I hate to sound like your glamorous older sibling, but…
If you hitchhike, you’d better be bloody careful. Even if UP IN THE AIR turns out to be the decade’s masterpiece, it’s not worth seeing if something happens to you. If I were in SA, I’d drive you.
Seeing as I’m not, I do hope that you take every necessary precaution. Get there in one piece and back again, young man.
You’re much too precious to lose, honey.
Craig, I looked at your review for two seconds. We get UITA on the 18th. Genuinely looking forward to it.
Then I can craft my own impressions and return to this thread when I’ve written my review. The fact that you think that it’s better than JUNO makes me giiddy. But I’ll definitely keep all of that in perspective.
Considering you avidly disliked JUNO and I loved it (something that I was really not prepared for) means that I can’t allow myself to be swept away.
Yet…
Sam don’t throw reviews at me to buttress the shaky ground you’re standing on. There are plenty of excellent reviews of the film from well regarded crtiics and even if there weren’t, I wouldn’t care.
I’m fine that you hated the movie, but whether it’s bad or not is unprovable. It’s up to each person’s opinion and Miss Z’s opinion means jack shit. She hated Assassination of Jesse James for example. Preposterous.
Both AO Scott and Manohla Dargis liked the movie making your selective choosing of Zacharek all the more preposterous. Few movies are loved by every critic.
As for Oscar, it’s gratifying in the rare cases they pick a film I genuinely feel is the best, but all the other times its a non-issue. An Oscar doesn’t make my opinion about a movie more or less right or change in any way how I feel about it. If I had a rooting interest in any of the likely nominees I might feel differently, but none of my favorites have a shot at getting nominated besides Inglourious Basterds. I don’t believe it has a chance of winning. Surely you’d rather see UitA than IB win?
Miranda, there’s really no comparison between Juno and UitA. They’re two totally different movies. Juno was very much a Diablo Cody movie more than a Jason Reitman movie I think.
Craig, I happen to LIKE Ms. Z., and find myself agreeing with her quite a bit as of late. She dissed IB for example, and liked a number of films I have been championing. I used her as a favorable reference point and no more. I am well aware that UP IN THE AIR received overwhelmingly positive notices, and I frankly could care less if I am on shaky ground. I’ve been there before and will no doubt be there in the future. Yeah, Ms. Z didn’t like JESSE JAMES, and there’s plenty of other instances where I don’t agree with her. But when she stands with a small minority (one that I support) I will gleefully bandy around her view, it’s my nature to get excited. But please don’t feel as if I am throwing it in YOUR face per se. I am not. You are not a huge fan of the film, and I would have no reason to, and besides at the end of the day you and I are very good friends. This film stuff is really small potatoes, even though all of us give it much attention.
And as to your last query, I actually would prefer IB to UitA.
I’m thrilled that you’re in agreement with Zacharek. I’m sure she’s equally giddy.
LOL!!!! I see you are a big fan of hers. I also like Manola a lot too.
Also, as far as the Oscars go, like you I feel the final winner is now an insignificant issue. They rarely get it right, and never honor the independents and foreign films we love most. It’s just a meaningless charade that remains an annual guilty pleasure, no more.
Hey, they got No Country for Old Men and all that awards for the Coen Brothers right. And DDL. And the other acting awards that year. :p
Alison, I agree that they have gotten it right a fair number of times. But I would venture to speculate their track record is abymal for the most part.
Of course, many would say THERE WILL BE BLOOD should have won last year, but my own pick was actually neither. It was ATONEMENT.
But no matter what I say, I will be the big hypocrite and will be there with bells on! LOL!!!
Sam, it seems that the 2008 oscars were so forgettable for you that your memory skips them altogether :-)
2007 was a bizarre year for me Alison when my tastes and Oscar’s lined up.
Sam I don’t have anything against Ms. Z. There isn’t really a critic I align with.
Sam surely you remember Slumdog winning last year!
He’s repressed the traumatic memory.
I didn’t have to hitchhike :) Had to pay a small fortune on taxi cab fare to get home but I just pretended I was charging it to an expense account.
Anyway, you can count me in as a fan of this film. Anna Kendrick was really, really wonderful.
Glad to see your taste is still intact, Nick. :)