Up in the Air is a bad movie on a few basic levels. The first is Jason Reitman's insistence on "meaningful" montages set to weepy indie and folk-rock. They seem to pile up faster and faster as the movie goes on and they don't get any more actually meaningful.
The bigger problem with Up in the Air lies, for me, in the grossness of the topicality of the whole thing. Where it gets kind of gross is the use of the recession (including of course Real Fired People) to lend gravitas to another movie about an aging loner who realizes that (despite the fact that it's been working out pretty well for him so far) being alone is not the way to spend his life (this general idea is executed much better and with less seriousness in Grosse Pointe Blank). Reitman doesn't really have anything to say about the recession (losing your job sucks) and he doesn't actually have anything to say about isolation in the 21st century or isolation or loneliness in general.
And that's fine, you know, I don't walk into a movie theater needing to be told something completely new about life, I just don't think asking me to feel bad for a George Clooney character because Real People are telling me they got fired is particularly reasonable either.
Showing posts with label CLOONEY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CLOONEY. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
Somebody tell me what to think, I'm tired.
I saw Up in the Air tonight. Don't think of this as a review, per se, I just want to have a conversation about it. I liked some things, I didn't like some things. But it wasn't what I expected. But it kind of was. Hang in there while I work this out in my head...out loud. Because I think I liked it. Well, I liked watching it. To a point. Honestly though, it could have been the biggest piece of shit ever and I just get this feeling that there's one thing holding me back from disliking it. Something catchy, something charming, a little dashing but familiar, feels like coming home...
Yeah, I'd let him do me. Onward to the internal dialogue!
Pro: Vera Farmiga! She can act, am I right? And she's got kind of a crazy face/voice. I like it. She has a great character, she's a lot of fun to watch, and I totally bought her schtick. You go Ms. Crazyfacevoice, you be in more things.
Con: Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons made me feel like I was watching Juno again. Love them both, but it's just a knee-jerk reaction and I don't like it.
Pro: Clooney. He's never been this Cary Grant-esque. Although it's not a really challenging role ("he's so flawed and callous! Oh wait, no he's not!") he plays it really well.
Con: Clooney, man. He's never been this Cary Grant-ish. Although he plays it well, the role isn't a challenge "He's so flawed and callous! Oh wait, no he's not!" Please.
Pro: The aerial shots of the different cities were a really nice touch. Even though it sounds like a minor detail, I really liked it. It was beautiful to look at, and a nice build upon the idea that the protagonist never gets closer than 10,000 feet to actually seeing a city.
Con: Note to filmmakers, IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A MUSIC VIDEO, JUST FUCKING DO IT. Don't waste my time with a music video in the middle of your movie. Why does this keep happening? Seriously the musical montage needs to end, we're entering a brand new decade. That isn't the 1980s. Come on.
Pro: The short clips of people getting fired in the first two thirds of the movie. It's a good way to keep up the film's pace, as well as tell us about his job without bogging the whole thing down with it. To a point, though.
Con: The short clips of people getting fired at the end of the movie. Someone actually says "Money can pay for your heat, buy you a blanket. But my husband holding me keeps me warmer." Really ma'am? Is your husband on fire? What's wrong with you? Why would you say something like that? Ew. Go away. Blech. And this is probably my biggest problem with this film, but honestly, you had me going there when you weren't hitting me over the head with how topical it is to make this film now. It's a book about air travel and firing people that came out before 9/11 and the economic collapse. Yes, it fits very well given our current climate, but at a certain point people in the movie seem to almost be saying "GEE, I wish there was just one word we could use to sum up the current financial climate. Precession? How about Mecession?" We get it Reitman, we're not idiots. We're the same people who also understood that Juno MacGuff was pretty hip and current even before you had her talk into a hamburger phone and fuck Michael Cera. WE GET IT PLENTY, REITMAN.
CONCLUSION
Pro: I liked it! It was enjoyable! I laughed a bunch, and it kept me interested. Also, it wasn't Avatar!
Con: It'll win some awards, and that's just gonna make me cantankerous. And nobody likes that.
Yeah, I'd let him do me. Onward to the internal dialogue!
Pro: Vera Farmiga! She can act, am I right? And she's got kind of a crazy face/voice. I like it. She has a great character, she's a lot of fun to watch, and I totally bought her schtick. You go Ms. Crazyfacevoice, you be in more things.
Con: Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons made me feel like I was watching Juno again. Love them both, but it's just a knee-jerk reaction and I don't like it.
Pro: Clooney. He's never been this Cary Grant-esque. Although it's not a really challenging role ("he's so flawed and callous! Oh wait, no he's not!") he plays it really well.
Con: Clooney, man. He's never been this Cary Grant-ish. Although he plays it well, the role isn't a challenge "He's so flawed and callous! Oh wait, no he's not!" Please.
Pro: The aerial shots of the different cities were a really nice touch. Even though it sounds like a minor detail, I really liked it. It was beautiful to look at, and a nice build upon the idea that the protagonist never gets closer than 10,000 feet to actually seeing a city.
Con: Note to filmmakers, IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A MUSIC VIDEO, JUST FUCKING DO IT. Don't waste my time with a music video in the middle of your movie. Why does this keep happening? Seriously the musical montage needs to end, we're entering a brand new decade. That isn't the 1980s. Come on.
Pro: The short clips of people getting fired in the first two thirds of the movie. It's a good way to keep up the film's pace, as well as tell us about his job without bogging the whole thing down with it. To a point, though.
Con: The short clips of people getting fired at the end of the movie. Someone actually says "Money can pay for your heat, buy you a blanket. But my husband holding me keeps me warmer." Really ma'am? Is your husband on fire? What's wrong with you? Why would you say something like that? Ew. Go away. Blech. And this is probably my biggest problem with this film, but honestly, you had me going there when you weren't hitting me over the head with how topical it is to make this film now. It's a book about air travel and firing people that came out before 9/11 and the economic collapse. Yes, it fits very well given our current climate, but at a certain point people in the movie seem to almost be saying "GEE, I wish there was just one word we could use to sum up the current financial climate. Precession? How about Mecession?" We get it Reitman, we're not idiots. We're the same people who also understood that Juno MacGuff was pretty hip and current even before you had her talk into a hamburger phone and fuck Michael Cera. WE GET IT PLENTY, REITMAN.
Pro: I liked it! It was enjoyable! I laughed a bunch, and it kept me interested. Also, it wasn't Avatar!
Con: It'll win some awards, and that's just gonna make me cantankerous. And nobody likes that.
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