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Up In The Air - 
out of 5
I am quickly becoming a Jason Reitman fan. Thank You For Smoking, Juno (if a bit too "quirky indie" at times but that's more due to Diablo Cody's writing), and now Up In The Air have all been movies I have quite enjoyed. I really like his writing style and was rather impressed with his direction and cinematography choices with cinematographer Eric Steelberg in Up In The Air.
George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, a man who is hired by companies to fire their employees so the spineless higher-ups don't have to do it themselves. Apparently this is done when a company has a big layoff, and in this American economic climate, this movie hits home all too closely. Clooney, in an Oscar-nominated lead actor role, knocks it out of the park as the charming and disconnected Ryan. He has become a man surrounded by emotions, good and bad, and the human condition but never lets it get too close to him, nor does he let his family, coworkers, or women anywhere inside.
I love how the movie explores Ryan's isolation in our constantly "connected" world and his relationships, whether it be work, romantic, or family. It is all very intriguing, as it is something I think Western culture is really starting to struggle with, if we are even allowing ourselves to be aware of it. Of course, my hope is that we can change this disconnect we all seem to be feeling and not starve our relationships so badly as all we've got is love and each other.
Okay back to the review, the movie really takes off (no pun intended) when Ryan meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga in an Oscar-nominated supporting role) who he starts a "friends with benefits"-type relationship with that leads to some captivating chemistry between Clooney and Farmiga. Ryan then meets his new coworker, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick also in an Oscar-nominated supporting role), who is trying to "modernize" their profession from having to fly all over the country to fire people via skype-like technology.
These three actors all deserve their Oscar nominations, and the way they all intertwine in a scene after Natalie was dumped by her boyfriend is perfectly done. As the movie strides along, Ryan's whole "disconnected from the world" attitude continues to be challenged, and he really starts to question himself. Up In The Air could be a taken as a pretty strong metaphor for life for us all as we continue on in our shrinking world, the American economic crisis, and maybe some self reflection sometimes.
There is one scene near the end of the film when Natalie fires an older man that really hits you in the face as far as what it would feel like to give a good amount of your life (and youth) to a company just to have them throw you out on the street. It's not a slight on capitalism either, maybe more just how out of hand we have all let this get.
This was well directed, written, shot, scored, and acted. Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, and Danny McBride are all perfect in smaller supporting roles, and cameos from Sam Elliot, Zach Galifianakis, and J.K. Simmons are all a nice touch as well. While it's not perfect, Reitman is still getting his legs beneath him I believe, Up In The Air is funny, dramatic, and thought provoking. I'm glad it was nominated for Best Picture this year, and I would be happy to see it beat out Dances With Giant Smurfs In Space (AKA Avatar).
I will be buying Up In The Air as soon as I can. I highly recommend it. It comes out on DVD next week March 9th so check it out.
Public Enemies - 
out of 5
Let me start off by saying I like Michael Mann's directing and cinematography style, but all of his movies never really stick with me for some reason. And Public Enemies falls in that same category. There are some wonderfully executed scenes in this movie, but overall, it's just kind of average.
Johnny Depp continues to prove he is one of the best actors in movies today as John Dillinger, but Mann, Ronan Bennett, and Ann Biderman's script fell somewhat flat. Isn't a biopic supposed to tell us about a person/character? We really never learn much about Dillinger other than he liked to rob banks, but what was his motivation? his background? What made him tick? Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I don't think we ever learn.
Maybe one of the best lines I've heard from a movie in a long time is an explanation to this. When Dillinger asks Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) to be "his girl" after they have just met, and she says she doesn't know him, he says, "I was raised on a farm in Moooresville, Indiana. My mama ran out on us when I was three, my daddy beat the hell out of me cause he didn't know no better way to raise me. I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey, and you... what else you need to know?" I really love the line that starts with "I like baseball..." but is this enough to excuse the movie for a bunch of cookie-cutter characters?
Christian Bale did a serviceable job as the man who hunted down Dillinger, Melvin Purvis, but his accent was sort of strange at parts of the movie, especially when he first comes on screen. After that, his presence is felt throughout the film, and I appreciated his part.
I began to struggle every time a new shootout would start up as the movie went, which seemed to last entirely too long. It seemed like overkill with how ridiculous the audio was. Mann loves gun shots it seems. That brings up another point, I don't know if the DVD transfer was bad, but the audio on this movie was terrible. The dialogue was very very quiet and then the shootouts were extremely loud.
Also, since Mann decided to shoot with digital cameras, it looked somewhat strange at times, not film and not quite television. It looked kind of like what British television shows look like if you've ever seen them.
So I'd say Public Enemies is worth the rental, but lower your expectations and be prepared for a pretty bad movie technical-wise and an average movie story-wise.
