Up in the Air

Jason Reitman's third movie, the delightfully delicious charmer Up in the Air, packs a rather exquisite emotional punch that materializes so quickly and with such skilful precision that it took me by complete surprise. One moment, the movie is an entertaining romp featuring a trio of excellent performances and some wonderfully witty dialogue. But then, a transformation of tone and purpose occurs and Reitman makes the transition so sweetly seamless that the movie blossoms into something spectacularly special, its heart suddenly emblazoned on its sleeve in brightly beautiful fashion.

On the surface, Up in the Air begins with a pretty basic story. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, in a role tailor-made for him) is a cool and charismatic bachelor whose job it is to travel across the country and fire large groups of people. Wherever there's a boss who fears the discomfort of firing an employee, Ryan isn't far behind, doing what he does best. His razor-sharp wit and steely resolve make him the ideal candidate for this job. It also helps that he sees human relationships as rather meaningless and has no problem saying what's on his mind.

Ryan's job keeps him on the road (or up in the air, in most cases) for over three hundred days of the year. He has an apartment in Omaha, where his company is situated, but he rarely visits the place. He has no close friends and he does his best to ignore his family. The way he sees it, airports are his home and constant travel is what keeps him happy. His greatest aspiration in life is to reach the coveted milestone of ten million frequent flyer miles.

He is nearing the legendary number, but his life takes a nosedive when his company hires a peppy young woman (Anna Kendrick, simultaneously combining strength and fragility in her role) who brings forth a plan to ground the traveling employees and conduct all firings over an internet connection. Ryan hates the idea because it disrupts his carefully tuned lifestyle. How can he remain himself if he's not flying all over the country?

This sudden crisis causes Ryan to reflect on his life and consider the tough questions he's always tried to ignore. When he is reluctantly teamed up with Kendrick's Natalie around the same time that he has finally met his match in a woman named Alex (Vera Farmiga, so lovely and effortlessly elegant), his personal issues come to the forefront. Natalie is forcing Ryan to think about love and marriage with her constant questions just as Ryan finds himself falling for Alex, who works a similar job and lives the same lifestyle that Ryan is so addicted to.

The plot moves along at a snappy pace and the chemistry between the trio of actors is sensational. The story is simple and nicely engaging, with Clooney providing just the right amount of spark to make Ryan's personal journey come to life. If Up in the Air remained in this familiar narrative space and everything were tied up with a friendly holiday bow, then the movie would still be a delight to watch.

But Reitman, co-adapting Walter Kirn's novel with Sheldon Turner, takes the story to a poignant and altogether unexpected level in the third act. With a few seemingly nonchalant strokes of narrative genius, Up in the Air becomes an almost overwhelmingly moving tale of a man entering the next stage of his life. Ryan's character arc is designed so that he will learn a lesson and begin to grow up and take responsibility for the relationships that he shuns, but while such a basic synopsis sounds rather obvious, Ryan's journey is anything but.

As the story enters its beautifully mature concluding stage, every twist and turn is so profoundly connected to Ryan that his transformative experience is not only entirely believable, but also hugely touching. Clooney is so good in the role of Ryan that his character is always fun to spend time with, even when he's a bit of a heartless jerk. He oozes charisma and he's never been so comfortably suave as he is here. When it comes time for Ryan to grow a heart and a conscience all at once, Clooney's performance crackles with energy and he makes the onscreen growth a bounty of emotional wealth.

Kendrick and Farmiga are both wonderful in their roles, too, and they bring a refreshingly potent feminine attitude to Ryan's testosterone-soaked world. The way the pair of them are incorporated into the story is excellent, pushing and pulling Ryan in different directions, making him face his fear of commitment just as someone enters his life who might be worth all the trouble and frustration that accompanies a relationship. Natalie and Alex help Ryan confront his personal issues and convince him that some much-needed introspection is in order, but Ryan's ultimate transformation arrives courtesy of his own desire to change.

The story of Up in the Air is always pushing forward and looking up, seeking hope and love and deeper meaning. Just when the runway is on the horizon and the movie looks to come in for a safe landing, it lifts higher than ever before and reaches a startlingly effective height. It is the combination of narrative originality and pitch perfect performances that make Up in the Air such a soaring success. From the very beginning, it moves so simply and so pleasantly that its emotional impact is quietly hidden from view. But Reitman is merely biding his time, waiting for the exact moment when he will unleash the previously invisible power of Ryan's story. It's a brilliant ploy, a masterful trick, one that allows the movie to circle in on itself and pinpoint the specific joy of locating the love in your life.