Ramblings: Up In The Air Is Down To Earth
You want a metaphor? Up In The Air is the story of a man who's happy as hell drinking imported beer and thinks champagne is for wussies. Then he gets a taste of what he thinks is champagne and loves it. Until he finds out it wasn't champagne at all and so he wants to get a bottle for real but no one's there to give it to him and in the end he has to go back to beer.
i'm a big Jason Reitman fan. i thought Thank You For Smoking was cool as hell and even if i thought Juno was a tad overrated, i was with him all the way on that one. UITA didn't disappoint. It's funny and tender in all the right ways because it steers around the storm clouds of romantic-comedy and the turbulence of forced happy endings.
Another cool thing about UITA was how Reitman dealt with the subject of unemployment. In Ryan's (played masterfully by George Clooney) own words: "I work for [a] company that lends me out to pussies like Steve's boss who don't have the balls to sack their own employees." So yeah, Reitman coulda just chosen to use that as kinda a backdrop for the story but he chose to move it into the forefront by hiring real unemployed people who'd been laid off to recreate the moment they were fired. Very cool and very meaningful and a great idea because those 25 people add a lot of depth to the movie.
The normal actors do a decent job. George Clooney (Ryan Bingham) gives his character a lot of character and Vera Farmiga is believable as jet setter, Alex Goran. Anna Kendrick is getting a lot of attention for her role as young exec Natalie Keener and the girl is golden. It's nice to see her in a role that's more of a stretch than Kristen Stewart's high school friend in Twilight, and man can Anna stretch.
Basically, if you're tempted to see this, you pro'lly should. Up In The Air is a trip.
Before we get to the talent, here's a song from the soundtrack. i like it because, if you listen to the words, it makes sense for us drinkers: Sad Brad Smith - Help Yourself
Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)
Sex: 2 shots
So anyway, here's some shots of Vera Farmiga (36) i didn't already exposé in my Orphan review.
Anna Kendrick (24) was super cute in her role of Natalie Keener, especially in the party scene when she lets her hair down, literally, and rocks out. i also already exposéd her in my Twilight: New Moon review so here are some different shots of her.
It's getting harder and harder to exposé Melanie Lynskey (32, who plays Ryan's sister Julie Bingham) after doin' her twice already, once for The Informant and another time for Away We Go. Still, i dug deep and found these:
There were also a slew of those fleeting beauties who flit across the screen in the blink of a wink. Here are those Silken Butterflies i hope to see lots more of...
First up, Adrienne Lamping who plays Tammy, one of Julie Bingham's Bridesmaids.
There's also Meagan Flynn (29) who plays a flight attendant (and wouldn't we all like to, at least once).
And it would be a mortal sin not to mention Erin McGrane, who is adorable as Ryan's neighbor / ex-love interest. If UITA lacks credibility, part of it is that in real life George Clooney would do everything in his power to win back this young lady's heart.
There's also Lanette Fugit (39), another flight attendant, though tragically uncredited.
To wrap this bad boy up, here are some shots of George Clooney (48) for those who prefer fuselage to hangar.
Drink: 2½ Shots
When Ryan (George Clooney) and Alex (Vera Farmiga) meet in the hotel bar, he's drinking a gin & tonic and she's got a martini.
Natalie (Anna Kendrick) gets drunk with Ryan and Alex after her boyfriend dumps her by text message. They drink martinis, scotch & sodas, and then there's more drinking at the Tech party they crash. Hats off to Anna Kendrick who plays drunk with a believable amount of understatement.
The next morning, Natalie apologized for getting carried away, which i liked because i've had to do the same kinda post-binge groveling more than once.
There's also beer from mugs at the rehearsal dinner for Ryan's sister Julie's wedding.
When Ryan's sad, he drinks minibar bottles of Southern Comfort that he keeps in his own fridge in his apartment.
Finally, when Ryan hits the 10 million mile mark, the flight attendant (i'm pretty sure it's Meagan Flynn from above) gives him a glass of champagne.
Rock & Roll: 1 Shot
What's also not rock is the cameo by Young MC at the tech party, singing his hit "Bust A Move".
Boring Technical Crap
Written by:
Walter Kim - Book
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner - Screenplay
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Starring
Vera Farmiga - Alex Goran
Anna Kendrick - Natalie Keener
Melanie Lynskey - Julie Bingham
Adrienne Lamping - Tammy
Meagan Flynn - Flight Attendant
Erin McGrane - Dianne
Lanette Fugit - Flight Attendant
Kelly Bertha - Terminated Employee
George Clooney - Ryan Bingham
You know how you drink with vampires? A new one comes into the bar every minute and there are so many of them because people will always want to be accepted and they figure if they join a vampire clique they'll be automatically cool. What they don't realize is every group has losers and leaders, the ins and the outs, the cool and the cold. An ass in a vampire costume is not hip, just an anemic in a black suit. Some vampires suck and others suck. The Twilight Saga: New Moon sucks, even if it is a vampire movie.
No nudity in the movie. Nothing even approaching nudity. Nothing even thinking about having a layover in the same country as nudity. Honestly, the hottest thing about this movie is knowing that Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning kiss each other in the upcoming film, The Runaways (due out next year).
