BadgerGravling's Pop Kulture

Watched ‘Up In The Air’ last night, and though it was pretty good, although not brilliant. George Clooney always seems to fall into the ‘suave mature business executive’ role, and he did a reasonable job of it, but he didn’t necessarily give much impression of anything going on behind his charming smile. Anna Hendricks was great as the young starter at the company, and Vera Farmiga was also a good female lead…

The film itself centres around Clooney as Ryan Bingham, an exec sent to companies to do the firing of employees. He’s in the air almost every day, hence the title, and comes under threat from Hendrick’s character suggesting teleconferencing as a cost-saving alternative. Meanwhile he falls for Vera Farmiga as a fellow exec constantly on planes…

And that’s about it. It’s got some nice amusing moments, Farmiga and Hendricks are certainly not unpleasant to watch, and it’s funny seeing a film (Originally based on a Walter Kirn) which espouses living out of a backpack, when so many techy people are now selling their possessions and doing exactly that!

It’s a good film, nicely shot, and making the most of the actors and their locations, but I don’t quite get the reviews which have said it’s full of emotion - hidden emotion, maybe, but neither Clooney or Farmiga go beyond the consumate professionalism of the executive class….