The One Where Bingham's Up in the Air.

The first time I saw the trailer for this film, I knew I had to see it. I had heard nothing but great things about it, it stars George Clooney, and the Golden Globes were coming up, and it was nominated for six. Plus, my parents were dying to see it also, so we all went together, and we all loved it.


Directed by: Jason Reitman
Screenplay by: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner
Based on the novel by: Walter Kim

The film centers Ryan Bingham, a man whose job is to travel around America firing people. He led an empty, selfish life, until two women entered it, and changed Ryan and his life forever.

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham. His job is lousy, no doubt, but he has become accustomed to it, therefore; he feels no pain in firing various helpless employees whatsoever. Because Ryan is always flying different places for his job; or always 'up in the air' and spending time at airports, he hardly ever goes home and consequently, calls the airport home. Ryan goes through a total personality change during the film; going from a carefree, non-caring man to the total opposite. I think of him as somewhat of a fascinating character, or maybe that's just me.
Clooney is amazing as always. I know people say that it was "George playing George, so he got it easy and there was no skill required to play Ryan". May I say that this is total crap! Of course the role required skill, and Clooney nailed it! He very much deserved his Academy Award nomination!

Vera Farmiga plays Alex Goran; a woman Ryan meets at the airport one day. Alex and Ryan form a casual sexual relationship and meet every few days. I really liked the character of Alex as well. I may not have liked her so much towards the end, I won't spoil it, I'll just say that her justifying was understandable.
I've only seen Vera Farmiga in one other film, but I think she is fantastic. She did an amazing job playing Alex. I'm really happy that she gained a Academy Award nomination for this. She was great!

Anna Kendrick plays Natalie Keener; a young woman who just started to work for Ryan's company and thinks she can change their whole system, which she does. Natalie is sweet, caring and very naive, just like any other young woman in a film. I liked her very much. I thought she was hilarious, especially in the scene where she gets drunk and lets loose, which reminded me somewhat of Sarah Jessica Parker's character in the Family Stone.
I must give many kudos to Kendrick. She went from a nobody to becoming famous because of the Twilight Series, then that gave her this role, then she was nominated for an Academy Award! My gosh, that is amazing! I think she deserves her success very much! I don't even know her, but I'm proud of her. She was really great in her role as Natalie.

This film is truly hilarious. There were many scenes where I was laughing out loud. These scenes included [And I must say; many of them involved Natalie]; Natalie crying, Natalie drunk, Ryan teaching Natalie how to live and, of course; all the scenes with or involving dialogue about Ryan's sister, Julie (Melanie Lynskey). I shall talk about these one by one, without talking about it too much to the point where I've recounted the entire film for you, and ultimately; ruin it :)
Natalie crying after her boyfriend dumps her is gold. She then latches on to Ryan for a comforting hug:

The way she cries is just hilarious! Alex then sees them, and comes over for a chat. Natalie is rambling, and says to Alex; "You're so pretty. You're exactly what I want to look like in fifteen years." The whole cinema, including my family and myself cracked up with laughter.

The scene where Natalie is drunk and singing karaoke is also hilarious:

At the airport, Ryan teaches Natalie a valuable lesson involving which line to stand in at airport security:
Ryan Bingham: Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently and they got a thing for slip-on shoes. God love 'em.
Natalie Keener: That's racist.
Ryan Bingham: I'm like my mother, I stereotype. It's faster.'

And finally; this:

Ryan's sister; Julie, wants Ryan to take this cardboard cut-out of her and her fiancé around America and take photos of it in front of various sites so they can show everybody 'where they've been' (but really haven't been). This is a running joke throughout the film which is pure gold. I loved this!

Although, there may be many hilarious scenes; this is a drama. Ryan's carefree, un-caring nature is frustrating to some, and people wish for him to make some sort of human connection. Ryan attempts to do just this and gain some sort of perspective. He is then able to connect with others, and teaches others to do the same, well just Julie's fiancé (as you can see in the trailer). That scene is truly beautiful. I personally, did not cry in this film, but many other people have and I can see why. But just because I did not cry, that doesn't mean that this film did not move me. It did.

The twists are brilliant in this film, and so is the ending! The twists left me absolutely breathless. If you haven't read any spoilers before seeing this film (which I hadn't), you'd be incredibly surprised regarding twists in this film. The ending is probably not what you expected either. I won't say any more because if I did, I will certainly ruin the film.

Overall, this film is magnificent. I loved the humor, characters, storyline, moving sentiment and surprises! Everything. I enjoyed it immensely! 2nd best film of 2009 - after Inglourious Basterds. It deserved every one of its Academy Award nominations, and it is a shame it didn't win any.
I give it 4 out of 4 stars.

Watch the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7k6FwXJhNk

Rating: R
Runtime: Canada:108 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Taysha. x