Up in the Air

Director: Jason Reitman

Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

Based on the Novel by: Walter Kirn

Producers: Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Jeffrey Clifford & Daniel Dubiecki

Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick

Year: 2009

Country: USA

BBFC Certification: 15

Duration: 109 min

Up in the Air is a film that I didn't want to like when I first saw it's trailer. It was one of those trailers that seemed to give away the whole plot and the central theme of George Clooney's character's commitment issues were so laboured I thought the actual film would be the same. However, I'm a sucker for good reviews, so on the strength of it's overseas buzz and award wins I had to go and see it.

The film focuses on Ryan Bingham (Clooney), who spends most of his life travelling around America on business. His business is an unusual one, he is sent around the country to fire employees for bosses who don't have the guts to do it themselves and as the film is set in the present day, i.e. the time of the credit crunch, business has never been better. Bingham is content with his life, he has no ties, a new low-maintenance 'girlfriend' and no interest in his family back in North Wisconsin. He's also on the verge of reaching 10 million frequent flyer miles, an achievement he has dreamt of for years. However, Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a new overenthusiastic member of the company he works for threatens to unsettle his perfect existence when she revolutionizes the 'firing' industry by offering the service via video-conferencing. Disgusted by this, Bingham takes her on a cross country business trip to show her the truth about their job. Along the way, as Natalie becomes more disillusioned with life, Bingham starts to see the cracks in his.

Well I can safely say that the trailer was clearly edited by idiots, because it did no justice to this film which I found very hard not to like. Up in the Air is one of those films that keeps threatening to get cheesy and sentimental but always manages to avoid it, which is probably why watching small chunks of it doesn't work. The ending especially, without wanting to give anything away, was surprisingly downbeat. Only a couple of scenes with Bingham's family and one or two moments with Natalie seemed ever so slightly mawkish. That's not to say that the film is usually bleak and cold though, it is a very entertaining, funny and at times warm experience. The writing is sharp and witty with plenty of great lines, proving that Reitman doesn't need Diablo Cody to deliver the goods. In fact, I think Up in the Air is an improvement over Juno, which was very good, but all the sassy teen talk got a bit grating at times.

George Clooney has been getting most of the coverage and awards buzz surrounding the film and rightfully so. As I'm sure most critics have pointed out, he's perfect for this role and is not necessarily doing anything new, but it just couldn't have worked as well with anyone else. He's eminently charming as always, but carries off the extra layers of subtle isolation and fear that are demanded of the role without making it too obvious. It's a performance that deserves to win a few awards even though it doesn't contain any grandstanding and doesn't seem like much of a stretch for Clooney. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too, with a host of surprising cameos filling the soon-to-be ex-employee rostrum. I wasn't a massive fan of Anna Kendrick though, she's generally pretty good but felt a little caricatured at times.

As I mentioned earlier Up in the Air is a film that's hard not to like. It's funny, well made and makes some fairly thought-provoking points on the way we live our lives. Just make sure you avoid the trailer.

9/10

Our Hospitality

Year: 1923
Director: Buster Keaton & John G Blystone
Writers: Jean C Havez, Clyde Bruckman, Joseph A Mitchell
Starring: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge & Joe Roberts

Buster Keaton's second feature film after the not amazingly well-received Three Ages and a multitude of shorts, Our Hospitality is an early sign towards Keaton's genius.

The film tells the simple story of two feuding families, the Canfields and the McKays. After a family member is killed on both sides the Canfields vow revenge on the remaining members of the McKays. 20 years later, Willie McKay (played by Keaton), who had been sent away as a small child to get him away from the feud, comes back to town to claim his inheritance. On his way, he meets a beautiful young lady, who of course happens to be a Canfield, and the film follows Willie as he tries to avoid being killed by her evil father and brothers.

Being a film from 1923, it's quite dated by today's standards of course, but that doesn't stop it from being a fun, exciting and beautiful little film. The humour is very light when compared with the types of comedies we get today, but some of the little touches and nuances of Keaton's performance are so good it still holds up. The amount of effort that goes into some of the visual gags is astounding too, with some wonderful scenes concerning an early steam train having to make it's way across the wilderness. The reconstruction of this is meticulous and a lot of humour is drawn from it.


Speaking of effort, as usual with any Keaton film his acrobatic physicality is incredible and you can clearly see the inspiration he must have on performers such as Jackie Chan. OK, so Buster Keaton isn't going to roundhouse-kick anyone in the face, but his physical comedy and stuntwork is virtually unrivaled, especially for the time. The big finale where Keaton saves his sweetheart from a waterfall is stunningly well choreographed and nail-bitingly tense.

One other aspect that impressed me was how well shot and designed the film was considering the age and genre. Most studio comedies in the 20's were simply churned out with little thought to craftsmanship, whereas Our Hospitality, along with most of Keatons films, were lovingly made with some decent elements of drama alongside the gags. The opening scene for example is quite powerful and dark considering what is generally expected from a film of it's type.


In short, Our Hospitality is not a film that will have you continuously roaring with laughter and most of the stunts aren't as flashily exhilarating as in a modern action film, but considering it's over 80 years old, it's mightily impressive and still delivered enough entertainment to keep this action junkie happy for 70 minutes.

8/10

In the Loop

Year: 2009
Director: Armando Iannucci
Writers: Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche & Ian Martin
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini & Chris Addison

In the Loop sees the critically acclaimed TV series The Thick of It remoulded into a feature film. And what a film it is. I haven't seen British satire this biting, exhilarating or downright hilarious for a long time, at least not at the cinema. It's great to see the British sense of humour put to good use on film after suffering years of Full Monty rip-offs and other such laboured cash-ins.

Written by a group of British TV's finest comedy writers including the film's director Armando Iannucci, In the Loop follows the events that unfurl after the absent minded British Secretary of State for International Development makes an off-hand comment on national radio about the possible threat of a (fictional and undisclosed) war being 'unforeseeable'. After further slips of the tongue, he becomes 'meat' for both the US and UK governments, the leaders of which actually do want to go war. Chaos reigns as the various spin doctors and politicians use every dirty trick imaginable to get what they want and the clueless Secretary and his aide are left blowing in the wind as they make mistake after mistake.


The key factor that makes this film so good is the dialogue. The witicisms are fired out at a machine-gun pace and pretty much always hit their target. The finest of these generally come in the form of incredibly offensive yet sharply witty put-downs from the film's stand-out performer Peter Capaldi, who plays spin doctor Malcom Tucker. In my screening his scenes never failed to draw fits of laughter from the audience as he brutally tore apart everyone he met with great relish. He's a commanding presence on screen, yet the rest of the cast hold their own, adding flesh to the bones of the large selection of characters.


The quickfire dialogue alongside pseudo-documentary style camerawork help give the film a frantic and lightning-fast pace and it came as a great shock when the screening I was attending suddenly came to a halt for an interval. Everything plays through thick and fast, and although the political processes were shown to be chaotic and messy, the film never feels confusing or over-complicated. It's all very cleverly executed and only a few scenes involving one of the character's relationship issues felt a little bit misplaced for me, but not badly so.

In the Loop is a brilliant film that helped restore my faith in British cinema, which in my opinion hasn't been as strong as it used to and should be. It also goes to show that the transition from small screen to big can work if done as intelligently and entertainingly as this.

9/10