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A review of the witty comedy Up in the Air | | Date Added: February 09, 2010 09:07:40 PM | | Based on the novel by Walter Kirn, Up in the Air with George Clooney playing the lead role of corporate layoff expert Ryan Bingham concentrates upon interpersonal relationships.
Mr Bingham is taken on to help ease the downsizing of long-term employees across the United States. He is serious about demonstrating his best prefessional qualities and looks forward to the 290 days he is going to spend away. Yet, duting this period of time his world alters drastically. Along the way, both he and his college graduate colleague Natalie played by A. Kendrick discover that they have been lacking a lot in their lives and have to learn how to become better people.
Clooney's Mr Bingham is a lonely businessman whose private life includes random dates with beautiful females at numerous airports where he is a frequent visitor. His wallet is full of plastic cards from airlines that accumulate his mileage, hotel status perk cards that let him avoid dealing with displeased travelers and go straight to the front. Uninvolved in the life of family, Ryan is the brother who lives somewhere but cannot give a shoulder to cry on. His job means the whole world for him. He contemplates whether he should, or really wants to, go to his sister's wedding – the girl whose life he should have been involved with after the death of their dad.
The story contains plenty of plot lines, details and sequences that need to be viewed fresh to get a better understanding of the film. What you may initially think is a comedy telling about a conceited guy who finally turns into a nice person unafraid to display his feelings and emotions is actually a mix of both comedy and drama.
Clooney gives a brilliant performance and makes his character very true-to-life. He is good at playing both the arrogant workaholic obsessed with his job and career prospects and the sensitive romantic able to demonstrate true feelings of love and sympathy to people around. The evolution he undergoes throughout the film is interesting to follow and makes you think about the genuine values of human life. |
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