Stared Straight
Up In The Air director-writer Jason Reitman "is the first to acknowledge the frequent changes of tone in the film," writes Chris Willman in a recent Huffington Post-ing. "He says he thinks of the first act as being like Thank You for Smoking's corporate satire, the second act as like Juno's more intimate comedy, and the third act as something much more personal for him.
"At various points the movie feels very Cameron Crowe-esque, with its exec-finding-his-soul overtones harking back to Jerry Maguire or Elizabethtown. At other times it feels like it's leading in the direction of being a romantic comedy, but what it offers in the end is something far less conventional than that. It's not actually a 'feel-good' movie, finally, though Telluride attendees left feeling awfully good about it.
"'I'm trying to take the audience in a certain direction so that when the ending happens, you really feel the impact of it,' Reitman said -- and to be any less cryptic than that would be offering spoilers.
"The main character definitely involves Clooney playing to suave, commitment-phobe type, up to a point. 'I feel that this is a movie very much in his voice,' Reitman said. 'And I thought -- I presumed, and I found myself to be correct -- that this movie, this storyline and its characters, really speak to him, and that you can feel that in the authenticity and vulnerability of his performance.'
"If people see parallels between Clooney's intelligent playboy image and the movie's alternately glib and soulful terminator, so does Reitman. 'It's interesting, the connections between him and this character...I think [Clooney] saw this as a chance to stare that straight in the eye.'
"The director says the film is 'truly about connecting with other human beings...for the first time ever, [the Clooney character] realizes he's alone in the universe, and I wanted to leave you with that feeling.' But he sees that as upbeat, mind you: 'When you realize how alone this character is, you want to reach out and love other people.'
The initial Up In The Air focus "will surely be on the incredible timing of the unemployment angle," says Willman. "Most of the 'actors' Clooney lays off in the film -- who respond by swearing, threatening suicide, weeping, or with real resignation -- are people who really were recently fired. The filmmakers placed an ad, saying they were making a documentary about job loss. They narrowed the field down to 100, filmed 60 people, and 25 of those made it into the movie as firees.
"The closing end-credits song is also written and sung by a regular guy in his mid-50s who handed Reitman a cassette of a sad tune he'd written about his own job loss and the subsequent search for purpose.
"Jason Reitman -- Hollywood's one-man stimulus plan."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 6, 2009 at 5:10 PM
comment #1
BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey
says ...
I wonder if this will be a slick studio zeitgeist capturing end-of-decade success like American Beauty was. Sounds like the frontrunner for the Best Picture now if these reports are accurate. The Academy seems to love Clooney.
Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey
at September 6, 2009 6:22 PM
comment #2
Postavant
says ...
It's turned into a Precious vs. Up in the Air race, even though most academy members are still thinking about Amelia, Invictus, and all the general bait crap.
Posted by Postavant
at September 6, 2009 7:25 PM
comment #3
DeeZee
says ...
BD sales are actually doing worse than last year. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118008148.html?categoryid=13
For kicks, Soderbergh brings in an MMA fighter to his next gig.
http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/09/soderbergh-carano-in-knockout-pairing.html
Posted by DeeZee
at September 6, 2009 10:39 PM
comment #4
Dan Revill
says ...
Fake DeeZee. Real DeeZee. Whatever DeeZee. The links are not amusing. Ever.
Posted by Dan Revill
at September 7, 2009 1:00 AM
comment #5
LexG
says ...
Kind of an uncomfortable thing to ask, but this is why I'd NEVER make a good parent:
If you were IVAN Reitman, how would YOU feel about your rich-kid son basically usurping your entire esteemed career, at least awards-wise, within four short years?
Believe me, I'm a HUGE Ivan fan, grew up on his movies, and so far to me Jason seems like a nice kid who's contributed... well, a hazy golden soft-focus sheen to some sitcom movies. But somehow this kid's CLEANING UP at the Oscars every other year?
This sounds like the kind of white-bread thing that hits right at home with the I ONLY SEE MOVIES AT THE GROVE USING MY GUILD CARD TO GET ME AND MY WIFE IN FOR FREE crowd. I'm sure it's excellent, but are you early supporters SURE it's not some Accidental Tourist-style milquetoast polite Kasdan shit that'll never be watched again in four years, while every film fanatic under the sun is still watching Hurt Locker and District 9 and Basterds and The Road every few months on Special Edition DVD?
Just saying, there's an endless tradition of upscale, smart-people white-man movies that are all the rage come Oscar time, then are never heard from again.
And I stil say Clooney should stop doing whitebread Pollack-Beatty "smart" movies and do some Tony Scott-Michael Mann style crime surveillance multiethnic street-level revenge shit, before he becomes the whitest superstar since Redford.
Posted by LexG
at September 7, 2009 1:04 AM
comment #6
mtgilchrist
says ...
lex, with all due respect, jason didn't usurp ivan's career. ivan had a decade and a half, and jason's made two (possibly three) good movies. it really all comes down to people being appropriate for a certain era - ivan's heyday was in the 1980s, like landis and brickman and joe dante, while jason is still developing himself.
i'm not really strongly disagreeing, however i have found that while i respect kris tapley's opinion i often disagree with it, and this site is well-known for announcing its support (and just as frequently, disdain) for a film long before it's ever been released (nowhere boy) or seen.
i hope the movie's good, i'd love to see both reitmans do well, and if it's actually a significant work (not a shoegazer indie oscar bait film like juno) i'd like to see it get real awards attention. jason's directorial mettle was proven with juno (he rescued it from preciousness in the second half and nurtured great performances out of his cast) so i'm looking forward to this.
Posted by mtgilchrist
at September 7, 2009 1:16 AM
comment #7
moorish
says ...
"Clooney should stop doing whitebread Pollack-Beatty "smart" movies and do some Tony Scott-Michael Mann style crime surveillance multiethnic street-level revenge shit"
THIS.
I would absolutely LOVE to see Clooney in a Mann or Scott film. I think he may see see himself as having left all that behind following meh-level crap like The Peacemaker (apologies to Mimi Leder), but a straight and true crime flick from a true directorial genius like Mann would be brilliant for his career and maybe allow him to show that hard and callous side which we haven't seen since From Dusk Till Dawn (Seth Gecko RULES).
Posted by moorish
at September 7, 2009 2:00 AM
comment #8
loyal
says ...
call me when Jr. makes his Ghostbusters.
Posted by loyal
at September 7, 2009 4:30 AM
comment #9
CitizenKanedforChewingGum
says ...
"I would absolutely LOVE to see Clooney in a Mann or Scott film. I think he may see see himself as having left all that behind following meh-level crap like The Peacemaker (apologies to Mimi Leder), but a straight and true crime flick from a true directorial genius like Mann would be brilliant for his career and maybe allow him to show that hard and callous side which we haven't seen since From Dusk Till Dawn (Seth Gecko RULES)."
Indeed he does rule, as does JACK FOLEY in Out of Sight. Not sure I have any real complaints about what he's been doing, though. He's taking real risks by starring (Syriana, Michael Clayton, any of the Coen brother stuff), producing (A Scanner Darkly, Far From Heaven) AND directing (GN&GL, CoaDM) off-the-beaten path, interesting, potentially anti-commercial fare. Isn't that what we always bitch about "movie stars" for not doing? Well, he's doing it.
Not saying I wouldn't love to see the dude in a Mann film (not sure I quite echo the Tony Scott sentiment exactly) getting his gun on, but I think perhaps the time will come or it won't. You can't really force these things, even with talented filmmakers. If you do, you end up with shit like Oceans 11 - infinity (and beyond!).
Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum
at September 7, 2009 5:49 AM
comment #10
btwnproductions
says ...
Variety: "A slickly engaging piece of lightweight existentialism highlighted by winning turns from George Clooney and Vera Farmiga."
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940965.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
Posted by btwnproductions
at September 7, 2009 5:59 AM
comment #11
BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey
says ...
I didn't know that Danny McBride was in this. It's a must-see now.
Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey
at September 7, 2009 6:45 AM
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