Up, WAY UP, In the Air
- Title: Up in the Air
- IMDB: link
Every couple of years it seems director Jason Reitman is putting out a movie that ends up on my best of the year list. Oh wait, that’s exactly what he’s been doing.
Starting in 2005 with Thank You for Smoking followed by 2007’s Juno, Reitman has quickly made a name for himself creating smart, funny, off-beat, award-winning films with heart, wit, and a little bit of sass.
Another two years have gone by, and Reitman returns once again with tale of a salesman. In Thank You for Smoking Aaron Eckhart made smoking not only palatable, but patriotic.
Here Reitman casts George Clooney as a termination specialist, a man who is selling unemployment – with a smile. And as he did with Eckhart, Reitman allows the man’s natural charm and the wit of the script to soften the hard edges of what it is he’s selling. If you’ve never believed a movie about firing people could be this entertaining, you’re about to be proven very wrong.
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I’m far from director Wes Anderson’s biggest fan. Although I enjoyed The Royal Tenenbaums (and to a lesser extent The Darjeeling Limited), in my opinion, most of his work seems to value style over, and sometimes at the cost of, substance.
Men Who Stare at Goats begins by stating that more of what you are about to see is true than you would believe.
The premise is simple: In a world where everyone tells the truth one man (Gervais) discovers the ability to lie. Some of the turns the script takes are expected, Mark Bellison (Gervais) uses his new ability for personal and professional gain, and some are less so such as using little white lies to improve the lives of those around him by giving them hope about life, and what comes after. But I’m getting ahead of myself.