I’d much rather UP IN THE AIR (2009) win an Oscar than PRECIOUS…

Posted by Daniel Metz

You know its Oscar season when you go to see a movie because it got a lot of buzz at Toronto. Well this George Clooney vehicle is being talked about probably much more than it is being seen, so I braved the cold Texas air to ride my girlfriend’s bicycle down the street to the Alamo to watch this as a matinee. I didn’t expect much, but I was very pleasantly surprised at this decent and, at times, charming film.

Before I get on with the review, I need to talk about this poster. First of all the whole look is so artificial. The plane is clearly photoshopped in. Are those black lines supposed to be window panes? And what is the title card doing? Is that like some kind of retro plane schedule board? Nice legs we get to see from the frumpy-in-this-movie-but-actually-beautiful Vera Farmiga, and all three characters are expressing their individuality in this shot; wow, this movie is going to be about people who are disconnected.

See what I mean?

But don’t worry, for the tagline comforts us with “The story of a man ready to make a connection.” Get it? It’s a pun, because plane stop-overs are called connections, but also its about a man who can’t commit to opening himself up to human relationships. WHO THE FUCK THINKS UP THESE TAGLINES? AND WHO ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH APPROVED OF THIS SIN AGAINST POSTERS? This kind of rubbish belongs on a parody poster, maybe, but its schmaltzy drek of the highest order if you ask me.

Ok, now to the film. I am generally not interested in standard lead performances, so please excuse the fact that I will not address George Clooney’s competent performance as a man-boy. He’ll surely be nominated for some awards for it, but who cares?

The supporting cast, however, is delightful. Danny McBride, my favorite comedian of 2009, is (literally) a cardboard cutout for two thirds of the film, but his live action scenes are just weird enough to be great. His wife is played by upstart Melanie Lynskey (that’s how my father pronounces the Linksys routers that he sees are open in the neighborhood, btw), who had a great year as the scene stealing stripper in Away We Go, Matt Damon’s wife in The Informant!, and as a pool-having barren woman in the unforgettable season five premiere of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

A couple of up and coming indie stars, I hope

Jason Bateman plays a Bill Lumbergh type boss who is not as funny as he could be, but it is always great to see Michael Bluth no matter how funny he isn’t (see Extract, for instance). Zack Galifianakis and J.K. Simmons also make cameos in the film.

While the story is not really that impressive, the mise-en-scene of the film is something to be gawk at. The airport/hotel backdrops have probably never been shot so iconically, so capable of calling familiar images to mind. Oh, and offices, too. There is a shot in which Anna Kendrick, the third lead in the film, is sitting in a room full of empty office chairs, that is absolutely remarkable and one of the best shots of the year. Everything in this film seems to be a ghost of the familiar.

One of the more striking, although slightly contrived, scenes in the film

There is some nice music in this film too, especially a little-known Elliott Smith song titled “Angel in the Snow.” It fits in nicely during a little romantic montage that culminates in a minor catastrophe. Pacing wise, this song starts at the exact same point in the film as “Needle in the Hay” does in The Royal Tenenbaums; Smith fits in well during the build-up between Act Two and Act Three.

While I’m on the subject of music, I must insist that if you see the film, you stay through the credits. There is a period of silence prior to the big last song. It starts at about the listing for Omaha Crew. Unknown singer/songwriter Kevin Renick’s voice on a low-fi recoding says something like, “Hello, Jason, I recently lost my job and I wrote this song and I think it might fit the theme of your movie.” What follows is a beautiful little song that apparently was the inspiration for the film’s title.

This is not a great movie by any means, but it is genuinely good and has the originality that most early-winter films do not have.