7.26.2010

Up In The Air

It’s not a romantic comedy, it’s much more visceral, more real than that. Up in the Air is a movie about how people deal with loss. I don’t know if the marketing strategy was to make it look like a romantic comedy to draw in that audience innocently (for more money) or to do it for mischievous purposes of giving that audience a sucker punch in the gut. In retrospect, it seemed almost evil to market the film during the Valentine’s Day season – I remember saying to people do not go see it if you think it is going to be fun and light.

This is not to say that I didn’t really love the film, because it’s heartbreaking, funny, and littered with well-rounded characters and situations. Clooney is his usual excellent, engaging self, and Anna Kendrick as his protégé in the business of firing people, both garnered Academy Award nods for their work. The most complex and interesting character belongs to a woman, that of Clooney’s love interest, played by Vera Farminga. Although she was also nominated for an Academy Award, the notice was far less high in the media.

Up In the Air, like Jason Reitman’s debut Juno, is a film about something, about the people in the situations, and not necessarily about resolutions or endings.

No comments: