The H-Bomb: This bitter/sweet film about a middle-aged downsizing expert who starts to question his profession and the priorities in his life has been a critical darling during this award season, but, does it really deserve all the praise that’s been heaped onto it? Read on…
Jason Reitman is quickly becoming one of my favorite up and coming filmmakers. I thoroughly enjoyed “Juno” through and through, despite some of its hokey dialogue, and while I must admit I haven’t seen “Thank You For Smoking” from beginning to end, I did like the portions of it I caught on TV. Now, after seeing his latest film, I’m completely sold on him. He’s a genuine talent who’s here to stay.
“Up in the Air” tells the story of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a man who travels all over the country laying off employees for companies who are too gutless to fire their own workers themselves. Ryan has been doing his job for so long, that despite going to bed in a different time zone almost every day, he’s practically perfected his routine to a T. He gets the V.I.P. from all the hotels, airlines, car rental agencies, and he’s very close to completing his main goal in life; to rack up ten million frequent flier miles so he can achieve an extra-special V.I.P. status.
Ryan also happens to be very good at what he does. He can sit there and have people scream “Fuck you!” into his face or listen to their sob stories about their mortgages and their children without batting an eye. He is often able to successfully turn it around by saying things like “Try to look at this as a new beginning for you. A new chapter in your life.” or “Here’s your chance to go chase your real dream.” Of course, despite sounding sincerely empathetic to the people he lays off, it’s all but completely impersonal to him.
In fact, Ryan has made it a personal lifestyle choice to not connect with human beings on any kind of meaningful level. He’s never been interested in marriage or children, has no real friends, and he has two sisters, with whom he has as little contact with as possible. He’s on the road 322 days of the year, and when we see his actual apartment, it’s even more generic and devoid of personality than the many hotel rooms he stays in.
Ryan’s a man who lives out of a suitcase, and real relationships are just excess baggage that he would just as soon not have to haul around. This starts to change when he meets Alex (Vera Farmiga), a fellow business traveler who he has a fling with one night, then arranges to rendezvous with in different cities around the country, whenever their schedules permit. His life is shaken up even more when he’s shackled up with Natalie (Anna Kendrick), an ambitious but naive new employee with a radical new idea that would change his job, and his life, completely. Needless to say, Ryan is not happy about it.
This really is an actor’s movie, and the three lead performances are pitch perfect. As Ryan, Clooney really shines. He truly is a leading man of the “old Hollywood” variety and he’s firing on all cylinders here. He’s engaging, charismatic, cocky, yet also insecure and discontent… even though he doesn’t realize it for most of the film. I would go as far as saying this is his best performance ever (with the exception of “From Dusk Till Dawn”, of course). Farmiga is spot on as Ryan’s casual sex partner and sort of kindred spirit. She’s cool, sexy, and really damn funny. As their relationship grows, we see Ryan do something he’s never done in his life, develop genuine feelings for another human being. Then there’s Kendrick, who starts off as an over-achieving tight wad, but who becomes more and more sympathetic as we get to know her. J.K. Simmons and The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis deliver brief but very memorable turns as workers who are fired by Ryan.
The film starts off lightly, but becomes more and more dramatic as Ryan starts to really take a good hard look at his own life. In many ways it reminded me of the kind of film Alexander Payne would make; a film about a man who thinks he’s happy, but who deep down knows there’s something important missing from his life. It also recalls Payne’s work in how it brilliantly balances the comedy and drama.
My hat goes off to director Reitman who, much like he did with “Thank You For Smoking”, took a main character who would be detestable, yet made him sympathetic simply by making him human. He may not win an Oscar for this one, but he’s certainly cemented himself on my list of must see directors, and I will be looking forward to all of his future projects. This truly is an entertaining and moving film, and I would urge everyone to see it while it’s still playing in theaters.
