Up In The Air

Nothing Is As Inspired As Being Fired

[George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Anna Kendrick]

Another holiday is over, but the movies keep on coming. I saw "Avatar" again with some buddies from work. Yes... it is that good! That is why it received the seldom awarded Friday Night Opening and BluRay status. If you are going to see it, I would recommend spending the extra few bucks for the RealD 3D experience.

SYNOPSIS:  Ryan Bingham travels around the country firing employees as a termination proxy. His preferred way of live, living out of a suitcase and in the air, is threatened when his company decides to ground him in favor of a teleconferencing solution.

The director of "Juno" and "Thank You For Smoking" brings us a bleak perspective of our current economic state via George Clooney as Ryan Bingham who travels the country to fire employees on behalf of their bosses. We are witness to many of Ryan's firings throughout the first half of the movie, leading me to wonder which of these soon-to-be former employee types I would be. Would I become enraged for the dismissal after years of service? Would I become quickly despondent and burst into years with the realization that I do not know what lies ahead? Or would I accept this as a golden opportunity to follow my true path in life? 

Ryan's company is trying to peddle the last of these. Clooney's character relays to each of these individuals that the more successful, world-changing people sat in a similar seat to the fired people themselves. Look to the future and you will truly live a better life. What a load of crap! Not every firing has a silver lining or has a light at the end of the tunnel. But, at least, Bingham tries to provide a little dignity to the job. Plus, Bingham seems to enjoy the lifestyle that his job demands.

Bingham's lifestyle and general perspective on life are also major characters in this movie. They stand equal ground with the character of the "collective" dismissed person. We see so many people fired in this movie that we almost lose the perspective that each person's life is as important as the one that precedes or the one that follows. When Bingham is brought back to the corporate office to be told that all outside agents will be corralled in the main branch to use teleconferencing calls to continue their work, he strikes a deal to take Natalie (Anna Kendrick), the architect of the teleconferencing idea, out on the road to see why human interaction is crucial in their line of work.

What comes of it is a contradiction in oneself. How can Bingham believe that human contact is critical in his job for people at their vulnerable, while he'd rather stay on the road and in the air avoiding making his own relations work? Is he so singularly driven that all other demands of his time and heart are too heavy weight in his "backpack" of life? Does Natalie show him a different path? Does a niece's wedding show him perspective? Does the reality of a hotel romance change who he is?

I cannot tell you if any of these questions are answered. But I can say that this movie is bleak and somewhat depressing, probably moreso for any casualties of our current economy. It does deserve the critical praise it has received, but I would pass this film for lighter fare.

Worth: Matinee or Netflix

The Men That Stare At Goats

This Story Is More True Than You Might Want To Believe

[George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges]

My brother-in-law, Bill, came into town for part of the week on business and came to visit me for the weekend. Of course, we went from the LIRR to home to drop off some luggage, then head directly out to the movie theatre for the next batch of releases. After the movies, we went to Taco Bell for a snack. The front door to the place was 4 feet wide and the booth seats we sat in were so far away from the table top that I could barely reach my chicken soft tacos. I guess the franchise decided to use funhouse optical effects to quell our worries of our ever-increasing waistlines. Interestingly enough, the soft taco portions are so much smaller than when I was in college, but I used to be able to buy tacos in batches of 12 in a box? 

Ewan McGregor plays Bob, a reporter in a rut after fluff articles and his wife leaving him for the paper's editor. In order to prove his worth, he heads to Kuwait in an attempt to venture into Iraq and report the real stories from the battlefront. Unable to cross the border, Bob runs into George Clooney's Lyn Casady, a retired member of the U.S. Army's black-op program using paranormal abilties on their missions. Looking for a way into Iraq for Bob leads him to a story he never expects.

Being a fan of both George Clooney and Ewan McGregor, I was interested in what to expect from this movie. The trailer and commercials never give you a true sense of what to expect. What you do get is a film with a sense of humor, an intriguing storyline, and some morality. Both actors put in fine performances as you would expect, and McGregor's narrative provides a good pace between his pursuit of the story and the story that Clooney has to tell leading up to his current mission.

Jeff Bridges puts together a psi-ops teams for the government that develops "jedi warriors" and "warrior monks" to combat the enemy, as well as combat the way we monger war. In an age where Americans involved in war is too commonplace, it is refreshing to believe that our government could actually spend budget dollars on a program that was initially created to shorten or avoid conflict.  But with all thing involving our government and its military, most good intentions do not remain so for long. You will have to see the movie to learn more.

The film opens with the statement ".... that more of this film is true than you may believe". I can be guaranteed that many Americans believe that a chunk of the military spending is spent on programs such as that depicted in this story. There is even a sequence of events that satires the wonderful world of our war profiteering in a war of our own creation. In spite of the all-too-real settings, McGregor and Clooney provide enough chemistry, story and humor to keep our "really" dark thoughts of war away. 

Worth: Matinee and a Netflix