Words Written On Leaves

Well it’s been two weeks since I’ve made a post of any kind and almost a month since I’ve reviewed a movie. But don’t let my absence fool you. I’ve been watching quite a few movies since then. Here’s some of them:

The Leopard

Rear Window

Gymkata

All The Real Girls

The Ghost Writer

Saturn 3

Cool Hand Luke

The Wrong Man

In The Mood For Love

A Better Tomorrow

The Pope Of Greenwich Village

End Of The Century

A Prophet

Wonder Boys

The Stuff

Black Scorpion

Straight Time

The Hunt For Red October

La Dolce Vita

The Evil Dead II

Under Blackpool Lights

Repulsion

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler

Sukiyaki Western Django

Ikiru

The Hidden Fortress

And I think that’s pretty much it. I figure that this list will be my way of transitioning back into writing in this blog.  So until next time, thanks for reading!

I finally got around to watching Up In The Air today with Mom and Matt. I have been wanting to see it for awhile but I had always had excuses not to watch it. I was fairly sure that it would be interesting since the film has received laudatory reviews across the board but I was still a little wary because of the severe overhyped treatment that Juno received when it came out three years ago. That being said I thought it was an excellent film and I enjoyed watching it unfold.

The story revolves around Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and his travels across the United States and his work as a termination agent for hire to corporations. The movie does a great job of explaining his philosophy of isolation and the benefits of travelling light, both literally and figuratively. He is a man who spends more time in the sky than he does in his own home so it would be hard for him to maintain healthy relationships even if he wanted to form them in the first place. Bingham has spent years of his life traversing the globe and firing employees and is shocked to discover when his company begins to develop a program that would allow them to inform employees of their termination over video feed. He realizes that this places his own job in jeopardy. In his attempt to dissuade his superiors from implementing the program he manages to take on a trainee who is none other than the recently-graduated creator of the new firing process. Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) begins to apprentice with Bingham to better learn how the human part of the firing process is performed in order to augment her technique. Together they travel to several cities and she begins to understand Bingham’s method of coaxing people through a fragile time in their life and helping them to realize that they have the ability to follow their passions and be truly happy. In one scene with J.K. Simmons this is particularly revealed and really began to humanize the film for me.

Although it is clear that Bingham is a man apart from society and a stranger even to his own family, his compassion for others and his charming personality also help him to realize that he has reached a critical time in his life where he is ready to develop a real relationship and he discovers this from a fellow frequent flyer named Alex (Vera Farmiga). Her relationship with Bingham brings him more in touch with humanity and allows him to see the futility of spending his life in a self-imposed cocoon.

The three things that really brought this movie together were the performances of the three main actors, the script, and the impressive soundtrack/score. This is director Jason Reitman’s second film and it was in every way an improvement over his first film Juno. Although that film was also very good, it felt at times that it was exaggerated to a slightly warped reality. Up In The Air was an incredibly human story that really surprised me with its’ authenticity and viability. Perhaps it was just the fact that this movie was made during the worst financial time in recent history but I felt that the story rang true on all accounts and Clooney, Farmiga and Kendrick performed admirably. The script was adapted from a Walter Kirn book and was rather well done. He also wrote the book that inspired the movie Thumbsucker. The score was perhaps one of the best parts of the movie and was even better than the soundtrack for Reitman’s first movie. It featured music from a few different unknown artists that lent a sort of desperate authenticity to the movie.

Overall I would say that this movie did live up to the hype. There’s a reason that all three main characters were nominated for Academy Awards and it’s no surprise that it also received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. This is a human story that was carried by a strong script, a great triple showing from Clooney, Famiga and Kendrick and an incredible score that was moving to the point that it felt like another character in the film, which is no surprise since Reitman usually begins to pick songs for his films based on the written material before the film is even cast. If you’re one of the few people that hasn’t seen this movie yet I would recommend it. Thanks for reading!