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Released last December to a surprisingly good box office run, Up In The Air is the academy-award
nominated story of Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney - who travels around the country
firing people for a living. Joining him for some training runs is Natalie Keener, played
adorably by Anna Kendrick, and Alex, played by Vera Farmiga who quickly becomes his traveling
sex-buddy. The setting of this movie is about travel, and about firing people in a bad economy...
and although it's an original occupation for a leading man, especially Clooney, it's not
a very interesting or exciting one - let alone funny. I will say that the material is upsettingly
true-to-life, at times, even gratuitously dramatic as you these watch nice people get
fired from 30-year jobs... in a supposed comedy film. The real focus though is on Ryan and
Alex's relationship - one that exists only while they're traveling. Natalie portrays
some foolishly innocent behavior and nativity... despite seeming mostly competent in her mid-20's.
Kendrick however does a great job of bring this character to life, and quickly becomes
a scene stealer by the middle of the movie. Frankly, all of the actors were absolutely
fantastic in this film - really delivering a wide array of specific emotional responses
onto the viewer. I saw Up In The Air before the Oscars nominations were announced, and
frankly, Clooney's Best-Actor nod came as of no surprise - this is easily the best and
most delicate performance he's turned in in years. And despite her... lets say... advanced
age, Farmiga is beautiful and convincing in the role of the sexy mistress-type she plays
in the film. While the romantic plotline of this film is the glue that holds this picture
together - it relies far too heavily on a 3rd-act-twist that I sadly saw coming from
the first minutes of the film. The movie is no worse for this bout of unoriginal predictability,
but as a result, it isn't anything special either. Very well written, and even better
acted and directed... Up In The Air is a refreshing and realistic movie that sparks some insightful
introspective thought in the viewer... as we experience a world through the eyes of
the work-a-holic Ryan. Sadly though, when the credits roll, the only lesson learned
is that time and friendships are valuable. A worthy lesson, but it wasn't anything special.
It's well made... but I'm afraid I didn't find anything truly remarkable about this
film besides the writing and acting... and unfortunately, that doesn't translate into
a great film. Well, that's what I thought about the Up In The Air - lets see what you
had to say in the YouTube comments!
suprinfean I really enjoyed this movie, I liked the idea of it and I liked the main
characters. This is one of the better movies I've watched this year. I give it a 8/10.
sweetkiss00x3 Wonderful movie as you saw Clooney's character go though his own struggle while
helping out costar Anna Kendrick with hers. Wonderful breakout performance by Kendrick.
8/10
Allright, let's throw Up In The Air into the rate-o-matic to see how it did... a Cool and
A Great! As I mentioned, this was a very well made movie... but I hesitate to call it a
great movie - and as such, I scored it a seven. Scoring this more serious movie higher than
I would have predicted you guys praised the acting and writing as well, scoring it an
8.