Up in the Air

Director:

Writer:

Stars:

George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga

Karthick and Harish are having their usual weekend dosage of movies, when they decide to call up Shekar. Shekar is at the Bangaluru International Airport, about to board the next flight to New Delhi, when his phone rings.

Shekar: Hi Karthick!! What’s up??

Karthick: Hi Shekar. Harish is also with me.

Harish: Hey Shekar. How was your sister’s wedding??

Shekar: It was good Harish. Things were a little hectic for two days though.

Karthick: Share pics man. As a brother, you would have been busy no doubt.

Shekar: Well… not really. Given that I was a little away from my hometown, I couldn’t help as much I should have. Sometimes I felt I was like Ryan Bingham from ‘Up in the Air’ who just went to his sister’s wedding like a guest.

Harish: Hey… that is one movie I love for its light handed way of handling emotions.

Karthick: And that is something we should appreciate Jason Reitman for. His strength is in showcasing events in a lighter manner. Looks simple to achieve, but very creative. The most complex and melodramatic
situations hardly have any background music and this helps keep the movie light. This style was evident in Juno and is the case here as well. An otherwise sad ending is made casual and ‘Up in the Air‘ is memorable for this very reason.

Shekar: Editing also contributed to the effect. If you notice, editing is tight with scene changes happening quickly. Not much use of fade-ins or face-outs that tend to give a melodramatic feeling. In fact, I think fade-out is used in only one place where Ryan is about to break down. Otherwise, tighter cuts give a casual and lighter feel. The scenes where Ryan and Alex meet for the first time and get drunk has been enacted and edited nicely. With no background music, it is only the acting and dialogues that could have captured the viewers attention.

Harish: Talking about acting… it was George Clooney all the way. Only a charismatic actor can pull off such a negative character like Ryan Bingham. And Clooney perfectly suits it.

Karthick: I think that Ryan’s character is very complex. On one side he is a kid who wants to save 10 Million miles and meet the captain, and on the other side he is a mature man who hates relationships and wants to be on his own. But then suddenly when he meets Alex he becomes a teenager in love. The three main characters portray different viewpoints towards life. Natalie is a young girl having dream like Cinderella story, very confident and wants to take life head on with everything planned out. Alex is 30s something well settled woman looking for a casual relationship just to escape routine real life. Ryan doesnt know what he wants out of life other than the short term goal of 10 Million miles.

Shekar: Anna Kendrick as as the new employee is also perfectly cast. Not only does she act the part, she even looks the part…with the pony tail and all that. The scene where she breaks down (having learnt of her break-up with her boyfriend) is superb. On the one hand she has to weep and on the other hand she also has to appear childish without having to behave like one. Nicely done!!!

Harish: One nifty thing Jason Reitman has done is the use of aerial shots to show different cities. It was a good way of depicting that Ryan was going from one city to another…. unlike how directors normally rely on plane take offs and landings.

Karthick: I liked some of the dialogues, not all though. The debate about relationships vs being single (and the whole thing about responsibility) was not something new, but the motivational speech using a backpack as a metaphor to life akin was creative. Most likely it was not there in the novel and the screenplay writers added it.

Shekar: I also enjoyed one aspect about editing. The camera movements were in sync with the pace of the music. Mostly still shots, but moving tracking shots were used when characters were moving fast. The wedding was covered with hand movements and slight shakes to give the feeling of actual presence. Simple but effective use of movements.

Harish: Right, cinematography has been unique even while the movie has been mostly about conversation between the main characters. The packing of the backpack and the shots of hotels and airports are lively. I especially liked the shots where Ryan packs his stuff into a single briefcase. I also liked the way he would save time during check in by traveling light and choosing the right queue. Good bit of research has been done on the travel behaviors.

Karthick: And not to forget the music tracks. I think the music tracks and jingles used in the movie were effective in generating the mood.

Harish: I was reminded of ‘Thank you for Smoking‘, which had similar treatment but made in a documentary style, subtle comedy, witty dialogs and light as air, looks like its Jason’s forte.

Karthick: Overall, this one was a sweet little movie!!!

Shekar[ On hearing the flight’s boarding announcement]: Chalo guys, I need to drop off now. They have announced boarding. Will be ‘Up in the Air’ for the next three hours.

Harish: Happy journey man. By the way, do watch ‘A Separation‘. It is awesome!!

Karthick: Bye, Shekar!!

Shekar: Sure… bye guys.

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Credits:Mohit Jain