Monday, January 4, 2010

Up in the Air (2009)

Is there such a thing as a depressing comedy? Because that's basically what this movie is. Following the recent trend of company downsizings, this movie pulls no punches in its frank portrayal of the times.

George Clooney is great as Ryan Bingham. Ryan's job is one of the few that is flourishing in these tough times. He works for a company that fires people for other companies. While Ryan travels a lot to do his work, his company is trying to go the technological route and streamline the layoffs. Before that can happen, he needs to train Natalie (Anna Kendrick) on the ways of firing people as to not offer them false hope or any sort of legal blowback. All of this is brought about by Ryan's goal of becoming the 7th passenger to record over 10 million miles.

This has been characterized as a soon-to-be classic movie that will speak to generations. I'm not so sure if that's true. Don't get me wrong, I liked this a lot, but this movie clearly only speaks to this generation and this ongoing economic crisis. Clooney was great, as usual, and Kendrick was very funny and played uptight and neurotic to a T. While this may not put you in a good mood, it will make you laugh.

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