I CERTAINLY WON'T ACCUSE JASON REITMAN OF TAKING ON BORING SUBJECTS — It's easy to hate those privileged enough to be in the Lucky Sperm club, but with Up in the Air, Jason Reitman has proven to me that he's talented enough to get by on his own name and not his father's. He's began his career with a trifecta of issues confronting the main characters that have all certainly whetted my appetite: Thank You For Smoking offered us Aaron Eckhart lobbying for Big Tobacco; Juno had Ellen Page dealing with an unplanned pregnancy; and now Up in the Air presents George Clooney taking on the role of the corporate hitman, firing people across the country. In this day and age, I'll applaud the effort to take the road less traveled.
THE PERFORMANCES DESERVE ALL THAT PRAISE THEY'VE BEEN GETTING— It's hard to believe there was actually speculation at one time about George Clooney's career as a leading man. How long ago that does seem, now seeing as this New York Magazine article noted, he "has been elected the industry’s new class president." Indeed, it's hard to think of anybody else that could have played Ryan Bingham without coming off as unlikable—let alone anywhere near as casually charming as Clooney does it here. But casting's been a real strong point for Reitman in both of his previous efforts, and that's no different here as both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick earned those Supporting Actress nods (although I'd say Farmiga has more of the scene-stealing stuff if you had to pick one or the other).
I'LL MEET THE "FILM FOR OUR TIMES" ARGUMENT HALFWAY ... — As it concerns the angle the story has on how social networking has affected how we conduct ourselves personally in all relationships of our daily life, then sure, I like that side of what the film's touching on. In addition to the sexting between Clooney and Farmiga, the plan dreamt up by Kendrick's Natalie to fire employees from a single location via teleconferencing software offered a fairly effective contrast to Bingham's approach involving more of what he calls "dignity" on both the professional and personal levels to make it really compelling had the idea played itself out more fully.
THREE THINGS I DIDN'T:
LIKE I SAID, HALFWAY ... — Since the movie is dealing with characters sending people to unemployment at a time when the country is dealing with the issue too, that parallel's pretty unavoidable. That segment of the audience might see similar pain or outrage in one of the voices that bookends the film, but the lasting impression is made by the stars—all three of whom have roles involving them seemingly getting through life with the comforts of expense accounts and only having to deal with creating the unemployed, never joining the unemployed. Forgive me for feeling as detached at times from the main characters as Bingham spends most of the movie being before, you know ...
BASICALLY THAT ENTIRE THIRD ACT — Unfortunately, while Reitman's topics of choice have thrilled me entering his three movies, all of them also seem to share some rather ho-hum resolutions. Up in the Air has that moment when you can begin to feel the shift, when that cynicism Bingham's been sporting so charmingly the first hour or so of the movie has eroded away and you suddenly realize that the real reason he's been keeping that other job giving self-help lectures was just to allow him to have a seemingly sensible podium to stand behind for that change-of-heart scene. While I imagine that others have Farmiga's Alex in mind when arguing to the contrary, I still feel that most every element involved in the narrative ultimately felt either quite predictable or certainly less than satisfying.
CONDESCENDING MUCH? — As I said, the movie begins and ends with a series of shots of actual, real-life people who'd lost their jobs recently. When the script needs professional actors for a little elaboration on those roles though, then it's time to call in one of thosestandbys for that sort of stuff. But it's been fairly well-publicized that Reitman sought out these newly unemployed folks to add into the film, as the book it was based on wasn't particularly audience-friendly fare after 9/11. While there's indeed a number of real-life victims of the Great Recession, Reitman's use of these people feels more like a gimmick. To some, it might be insignificant and even timely, but to me it felt forced and rather disingenuous.
25 WORDS OR LESS:
Confirms Clooney's status as a leading man with more than enough elements to entertain you although hardly enough to stay with you.
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, E-mail Me
|
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
— Herbert Bayard Swope
Schumer Fucked It All Up
-
Here's the thing that's bugged the shit out of me about Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer's betrayal of Democrats in supporting cloture on the
continuin...
That Ship Has Sailed
-
At least, *that's what all the signs and rumors are pointing to*:
-
*In a Hail Mary attempt to keep the Bears in Chicago, developers of the
...
Casting bad joojoo on a jerk
-
I had a trump voodoo doll years ago and gave it to the dog to chew up. I
think I am going to make a new one to get me through the coming years. I am
find...
Skandiewrap, or More Than You Wanted to Know
-
"You run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. You run
into assholes all day, *you're *the asshole."—Raylan Givens (though he
first as...
News of the Day for Friday, January 24, 2020
-
The U.S. president first announced that there were no casualties from the
January 28 Iranian missile attack on U.S. facilities in Iraq. The Pentagon
later ...
Update: Execution put on hold
-
Today a federal district judge granted Dexter Johnson's request for a stay
of execution - but not because of claims of brain damage and intellectual
disabi...
Bret Stephens is Wrong
-
On February 9th, Bret Stephens penned an Op-Ed for The New York Times
entitled " The Smearing of Woody Allen". In the piece he argues that Woody
Allen is...
Tales from the Cryptkeeper - Giant Worm GIF
-
Earthquake drills are being practiced all across the country (#ShakeOut),
just remember that 99.9% of the time the cause of an earthquake is not a
giant ...
I'm alive.
-
Hello! My hubby talked me into posting on my blog. What.... it's been about
3 years? It seems like forever. Life has had so many twists and turns
since th...
I want to be a photographer
-
All I have is my eye and a lens. I want to start a new life as a
photographer. I only have a few months of sobriety. I know that drinking
will only le...
It Only Hurts When I think... I Think, OUCH!
-
In this era of space-age technology and Velcro, you’d think that the
construction industry could invent a form of concrete that is anti-slip; if
not for ...
Now Available on Amazon
-
So, I dug up some old zip disks and 3.5" diskettes (amazing, I know—what
was that technology? My current desktop doesn't even have a firewire port)
to see ...
Fandom Awakens
-
The internet almost broke last week with the debut of the *Star Wars: The
Force Awakens* trailer. It was viewed over 30 million times in the first 24
hour...
We've Moved!
-
My new website is up! For all the latest information on myself and my
books, go to www.hockingbooks.com.
All my old blogs from here have been moved over t...
Time Keeps on Slippin' ... Into the Future
-
I disappeared again. I feel as though I am just resurfacing. After the
holidays. After life changes. After ... It all just goes fast, doesn't it?
This past...
Dat dere orange spray tan
-
Unnatural looking, streaks, overpriced, wears off in just a few days, weird
chemicals cause you to break out.....what more could you want!?!?
Hibernation
-
Thanks for dropping by!
I'm taking a break from blogging (or more to the point, taking a break from
feeling guilty about the lack of blogging but stil...
Oh dear
-
I am not a patient person.
I couldn't finish the healing journey I had the other day.
I was taken to a deep blue pool and many of the gods and people I kne...
Where To Find Me
-
As I mentioned in my last post, my writing was in the process of being
moved, and that process is complete. Going forward, you'll be able to read
my stuff ...
60 Days of Art... round 2
-
I missed last years 60 days of art by roughly 2 weeks. I'm going to try and
officially complete it this year.
I started July 30 with this version of Adam W...
HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY
-
"THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN," - sings Uncle Jesse with a mullet.
The boys are back (but not in town)! However, according to NBC's broadcast,
they were playi...
Jordan
-
I saw this and this a while back but never shared it, since it's probably
BS. Nevertheless, it's still funny and I've sent both links around to
people b...
He who blogs and runs away
-
*He settled *Hoti*'s business--let it be!--*
* Properly based *Oun*--*
*Gave us the doctrine of the enclitic *De*,*
* Dead from the waist down....
Icon Packages Download
-
Dear users, I'm having trouble keeping the downloads directly from my
website, because the high traffic. Therefore, some links are broken.
Some of my works...
Book #9 -- The Dirty Life
-
I had the pleasure of reading The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball over spring
break. I say pleasure because it seems appropriate. This book was a
complete...
Pheasant Tale
-
*Pheasant Tale Fascinator by Arturo Rios*
*Artist Statement:* This is a beautiful hat i love from my collection, its
made on small pillbox covered with a...
the year of living almost celibately
-
it's been a strange year.
for someone who advises people to have plenty of sex and plenty of wild
sex, i've had little of late. I'm like a reverse-christ...
Taiwan's International Athletes
-
So after a long hiatus from the world of blogging...... I AM BACK!
Since I've been in Taiwan for the past bit, I will write about the world of
sports and cu...
Un-Baked Ziti
-
I bought the largest package of Italian sausage I had ever seen. Three
dinners? Four dinners? Three dinners. I can get three dinners out of this
package....
Life changed
-
I don't really know where to begin with this post because of how much life
changed since the last time I wrote. Well first things first, Evan is into
his s...
Finding The Flow To Let Yourself Go
-
This is supposedly how you find your flow to let yourself go. The point is
to just write and see where the words take you. However, I am currently
listenin...
HOME PAGE:
-
Click sequentially on the topics below to experience God's presence among
us:
*1. "I am who I am*"
2. "Understood from what has been made"
*3. "Male and f...
work in progress
-
Our world of wealth and prosperity
Religions with alien deities
No spirit left in our arteries
Fat bellies from food made in factories
And terror danc...
Beautiful Steampunk Art and Video
-
Courtesy of Natania Barron, authoress of the the book and blog The
Aldersgate Cycle, I discovered the winning entries to a steampunk art and
video contest...
Happiness
-
What do you know? Happiness is IN! How do I know this? From a November 27,
2008 *New York Times* article about a convention on happiness in San
Francisco...
Post #1377: The Relatively Short Goodbye
-
Hello, everyone.
After 21 years, and almost 40 million posts (we'll have to check those
numbers, but it's something like that), we have decided to bring F...
Jesus Christ...Martin Luther King, Jr...Ken Lay
-
Until I became a martyr recently, the only time my name was uttered in the
same sentence as God's only son and that black civil rights guy would be
when so...
No comments:
Post a Comment