Up in the Air (2009)

Posted on March 7, 2010 | Categories: Reviews | Tags:

13

Tagline: The story of a man ready to make a connection

Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman

Summary: Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and his job as a corporate downsizing expert is placed into jeopardy and as a result, his cherished isolated and baggage-free (both physically and metaphorically) lifestyle comes into question and under threat

5 Words/Phrases: Great use of dry humor in the script; very surprised to see Anna Kendrick in a non-Twilight film1; the two main characters were believable satires; humorous observations about jet-set life; spot-on casting

Most Impressed By: The dynamics between Ryan and Natalie (Anna Kendrick) really added to the film

Least Impressed By: A particular turn in Ryan’s personal life (can’t say anything more without it being a spoiler!)

Comments: I know Clooney is always superb in these roles, but I really loved him as Ryan in this film

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

  1. Kendrick plays one of Bella’s friends in the Twilight films. []

13 comments

March 7th, 2010

I agree! :D The relationship between Ryan and Natalie was one of the highlights of the movie for me too :)

March 7th, 2010

I think I have to watch this just for Clooney <3

March 7th, 2010

Did Anna Kendrick play the only younger character that wasn’t annoying in Twilight?

I just watched this today too, I agree with most of your points apart from the “turn” in his life – to me, the reality of the situation makes this film special.

The setting was very fitting to the current time as well, the story itself is a very strong aspect of the film.

March 7th, 2010

Anna Kendrick plays Jess in Twilight, one of Bella’s friends at Forks. Jess is pretty much jealous of Bella and is only really her “friend” if she’s put in a better light than Bella. An amusing character, but one that lacks depth, just like everyone else in Twilight. And I’m not sure there is a character in Twilight who isn’t annoying :P

March 7th, 2010

Ok, then it was Jessica. :D I think she wasn’t annoying in the books?

March 7th, 2010

Jessica = Jess? You can now delete my comment. D:

March 7th, 2010

…they’re all annoying, books or movie :P

March 7th, 2010

Once again, we’re on the same movie brainwave, because I watched this yesterday! This is becoming scary! The movie selection part of our brains must be telepathically linked!

I wasn’t quite as impressed with this movie as I was hoping to be. I liked it, but I expected to love it. On my scale of 1-10, I give it a 6.5-7. I really liked Anna Kendrick in this though. I only saw the first Twilight movie, and I don’t really remember it at all (blocked it out :P), so I can’t really compare her to that, but I liked her a lot in this movie. :) I wouldn’t say it’s Oscar worthy or anything, but she did well.

March 7th, 2010

Obviously our movie timing is perfect, therefore the telepathically linked portions of our brain are far more awesome than the rest of our brains ;)

I saw a preview screening of Up in the Air before it was released way back in November. I really liked the movie and how it “stayed” with you after watching it. It’s kind of like how it was with Slumdog Millionaire – the more hype you hear about it, the greater your expectations are, and sky-high expectations can never be met.

March 7th, 2010

This surprised me. I thought it would be really bad. I might have to see it.

March 7th, 2010

I saw this movie recently; I honestly thought I was going to be disappointed but I ended up loving it.

I also thought one of the best parts of the movie was the relationship between Natalie and Ryan. I also loved George Clooney as Ryan.

I really enjoyed Anna Kendrick’s performance (I actually think she was nominated for an Oscar), and I had no idea that she was in Twilight (not that I keep track of the stars of those movies at all).

March 8th, 2010

Ahh, I had plans to see it on Sat night with my mum and sister but then the plan fell through… HOWEVER, being 2nd to last screening, I’m going to see it tomorrow night! And that review just made me mooore intrigued :)

March 8th, 2010

[...] Up in the Air walking away empty-handed [...]

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