"The Story of a Man ready to make a Connection"
I felt the need to watch most if not all of the nominated movies for Oscars Best Picture category. This year they decided to go with 10 instead of the usual 5 nominees. So far I've seen "Avatar", "UP", "The Hurt Locker", and "Inglorious Basterds". "District 9" doesn't fit my preference. "The Blind Side" and "Precious" are based on true stories, a genre not to my liking. I have yet to find copies of "An Education" and "A Serious Man"
"Up in the Air" was a delight to watch. If you do much traveling either for business or pleasure, you can identify with Ryan Bingham's (George Clooney) hectic lifestyle. He is a HR consultant whose main function is to fire people from their jobs. He travels all over America to perform this unpleasant task. But for cost cutting measures, his boss decides to cut back on travel by hiring Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), an arrogant young woman who believes in the power of technology. Her theory - instead of traveling they will simply fire people via video conferencing. But Bingham who has becoming rather stoic in his job prefers the up close and personal approach. So he decides to prove that Natalie's method is the wrong way to fire people. They embark on a whirlwind trip of different cities.
The main characters are well developed with quite interesting personalities. They all work together really well. They totally immersed themselves in their realistic characterization. No wonder then that George Clooney (best actor), Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga (best supporting actress) are all nominated for their engaging roles in this film.
The film unfolds like a Google map commercial what with all the different destinations. Mostly well edited shots of airport terminals, hotel rooms and the accumulation of frequent flier miles. But it also broaches on the subject that is currently very 'trendy' in these recession filled times. Downsizing or the act of being let go from a company where they devoted most of their precious time. The film records several 'firing' moments with real people's reactions to the lost of their jobs. But the movie isn't merely about downsizing because as they go about performing their duties, both Natalie and Ryan comes to terms with the pitfalls of the job. They both realize eventually what is really important both in their careers as well as in their personal lives.
An insightful movie about traveling, downsizing and everything else in between.
"Up in the Air" was a delight to watch. If you do much traveling either for business or pleasure, you can identify with Ryan Bingham's (George Clooney) hectic lifestyle. He is a HR consultant whose main function is to fire people from their jobs. He travels all over America to perform this unpleasant task. But for cost cutting measures, his boss decides to cut back on travel by hiring Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), an arrogant young woman who believes in the power of technology. Her theory - instead of traveling they will simply fire people via video conferencing. But Bingham who has becoming rather stoic in his job prefers the up close and personal approach. So he decides to prove that Natalie's method is the wrong way to fire people. They embark on a whirlwind trip of different cities.
The main characters are well developed with quite interesting personalities. They all work together really well. They totally immersed themselves in their realistic characterization. No wonder then that George Clooney (best actor), Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga (best supporting actress) are all nominated for their engaging roles in this film.
The film unfolds like a Google map commercial what with all the different destinations. Mostly well edited shots of airport terminals, hotel rooms and the accumulation of frequent flier miles. But it also broaches on the subject that is currently very 'trendy' in these recession filled times. Downsizing or the act of being let go from a company where they devoted most of their precious time. The film records several 'firing' moments with real people's reactions to the lost of their jobs. But the movie isn't merely about downsizing because as they go about performing their duties, both Natalie and Ryan comes to terms with the pitfalls of the job. They both realize eventually what is really important both in their careers as well as in their personal lives.
An insightful movie about traveling, downsizing and everything else in between.
2 comments:
I watched this movie last night and it was entertaining. A good flick. Btw, you don't have a search engine on your movie blog anymore.
Yes I agree it is fairly entertaining.
I know I lost the search engine button when I changed my template. I tried putting it back in but it messed up my layout. Hehehe So until I find another template with a built in search button this will do, for now! =)
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