So what is it that this movie is about? In all honesty – I don’t know. I for sure watched it. And I did not fall asleep like in Avatar. OK, I didn’t fall asleep in Avatar. But I did in Up in the Air. OK, I didn’t do that either. But I hope by now you’re with me when I say: this movie has confused me. Unfortunately not in a David Lynch way though, but in a different way. Perhaps even in a new way. Which then would be good. So let’s hope so.

The story is said to be complex. I’d say it is fairly simple. Ryan Bingham’s (George Clooney) job is to fire employees whose bosses don’t have the balls to do it themselves, which makes them walking embarrassments to our race (that includes all human beings and is actually beside the point, but I felt like telling them something: you guys are low, so low that I hope cockroaches will spit on you before they squash you with their ugly little shit-covered feet). The job includes travelling across the USA – a lot. So much in fact that the only place he really feels at home is on the move. And since the way he moves is by airplane, his home is airports. He’s told he leads a very isolated life, but he himself is happy being surrounded by lots of strangers. Then three things happen. First, he meets a woman (Vera Farmiga) he might actually like. Second, his boss tells him to take a young ambitious employee (Anna Kendrick) along and teach her the basics. Third, his company plans to ground him, which means he would have to stay in Omaha, Nebraska.

George Clooney’s performance most definitely is noteworthy. What’s more, there was not a single untalented supporting actor and particularly the beginning had some snappy editing. The movie had its happy-moments while touching on some very sombre topics. And that’s where my problems begin: Up in the Air starts off as a romantic comedy but quickly you notice it might not actually be one. Perhaps my +1 having told me we were in for a cheesy chick flick added to my overall confusion. Whatever it was, this flick needs a category of its own. Which might be a good thing. Think The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Inglourious Basterds, Sin City, or any Ingmar Bergman or David Lynch film; they all are in categories of their own. I’m just not sure this movie is even the same fucking sport. But I might be changing my mind already.

In German I would say this film looks at life and its problems with a smiling and a crying eye, which is exactly what my face tried to do on my way out of the cinema. Turns out my face wasn’t made for that and consequently I looked a bit stupid – just as stupid as our perverse little world. Perhaps that’s what the filmmakers wanted.

Up in the Air
(2009)

Director: Jason Reitman
Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Walter Kirn (novel)
Cinematography: Eric Steelberg
Editing: Dana E. Glauberman
Score: Rolfe Kent
Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman.