After two critically acclaimed films, Juno and Thank You for Smoking, writer and director, Jason Reitman’s third film Up in the Air hits home during one of the country’s worst recessions ever on record. The story is about Ryan Bingham(George Clooney), a cooperate downsizing worker, whose job is to travel around the country and fire people and in the process, try and complete his own goal of 10 million airline miles. In his travels, He also holds motivational speaking engagements of on his philosophy called “What’s in your backpack?” which tells his values of his way of life is freeing people of their relationships and the “unimportant things” in life.
The film was adapted to screen by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, from a Walter Kirn novel of the same title. While the novel was released in 2001, the film is especially fitting today, as Americans try to fight through one of the worst times in the American economy since the depression. Plus with an unemployment rate of about 10.7, on average, when the film was released, the movie was really imperative for these times, and according to its critical fame and box office success, America thinks so too. Claudia Puig, a film critic from USA today, may have put it best saying “It's tough to capture an era while it's still happening, yet Up in the Air does so brilliantly, with wit and humanity.”
Just coming of its sweep of wins at the Golden Globes, Writers Guild Awards, BAFTA awards and its total of 6 nominations at the Academy Awards, the film was just released to DVD on March 9. While the story of Ryan Bingham (Clooney) and his life of travel makes the movie an excellent example of an honest story, what makes it more honest is the films use of real people who have actually, recently, been fired.
While filming in Detroit and St. Louis, the film crew and Jason Reitman put an ad out in several papers in both of the cities calling for people who have recently lost their jobs to come in for a documentary. They said documentary so as not to attract actors looking for work. When they came to the set the film makers would ask the people questions about their experiences for about ten minutes and then at the end of it they would set up a camera and ask the people to actually fire them again for the camera. They would tell them to say whatever they said when they got fired or whatever they wished they would have said. At the end of it all they had about 100 people respond to the ad and they chose about 60 and at the end roughly 22 of those people appeared in the film.
With the struggling economy and high job loss percentages,” it was interesting to hear the story from the other end of it (the people doing the firing).” Mitch Deinhammer, an Eastview High School Sophomore, told me when he spoke on his thoughts of the film. “I also really believed what happened in the film, which doesn’t happen that often” and whether he was talking about the real people who got fired in the film or the acting done by George Clooney and the list of other well known actors who worked on the film, his overall thoughts of the film was that it was extremely “honest.”
“I thought it was good but sad” is what Jordan Koplitz’s, an Eastview High School junior, deliberation of the film was, However, just as Mitch Deinhammer had put it as well as numerous critics, it seems the defining consensus of the film is that it was very “real” for these times.
Another key factor that may have contributed itself to the film’s success was its connection with Walter Kirn’s original work in his novel. It seems that in the past, time after time, great pieces of writing done by hard working authors have been turned into unrecognizable films by uncaring film makers, however not in Walter Kirn’s case. In an interview conducted in 2009, Walter Kirn had an abundance of terrific comments about the film that had originated from his 2001 novel. “When I sat down to see it, I was not only honored and delighted but surprised by the transformations that had taken place in my own material and some of the potentials that I left untapped" Kirn responded when asked on how he felt about the film and how it related to his novel.
“I had a family member who recently lost a job and so it was really personal for my family and I” Mitch Deinhammer said when asked why he felt so connected to the film. “It just seemed more personal; like we were a part of the film” he elaborated on his feelings of the film and how it seemed more authentic to him, as well as too his family, than any other movie out there “I never questioned it once” Deinhammer explained “and that’s why it was so special.”
Since the film’s release in late 2009, the film has made near 83 million dollars, domestic, and around 158 million worldwide, however you can still find Up in the air in many theaters across the country. Also with its release to DVD on March 9, the film is continuing to sell at across the country and attract more and more people who have been affected by the current economy and or have either lost or known someone close who has lost their job. Unfortunately, like in most successful films cases, it experienced a little bit of a back lash, however it diminished quickly and started selling again.
Another big compelling factor to the movie was the films intriguing soundtrack. One important song came from a pivotal wedding scene, which the song for the scene was written by a, nobody, singer songwriter who the producer of the film just happened to find performing at a coffee house in California named Sad Brad Smith. All the way to a man by the name of Kevin Renick, who had recently lost his job of many years, who wrote a song for the end credits called “Up in the air” that he gave to director and screenwriter Jason Reitman at a screening of the film on a cassette tape. After Reitman played the tape in his car, he knew the song would be perfect for the end of the movie that he had been writing for almost 9 years. The score for the film was composed by Rolfe Kent, who also has composed for films like Sideways and Reign Over Me, and featured hit artists such as Crosby Stills & Nash and Elliot Smith.
After being so generously accepted by not only the film community but movie goers, the movie went on to win many awards on many different platforms. Its top honors include a win for best screenplay at the Golden Globes and best adapted screenplay at the Writer’s Guild Awards. The film was also graced with six academy award nominations, including a nod and serious consideration for best film, as well as well known deliberation of consideration in its honored categories.
So whether you have a connection with the film, by having a family member or close friend who has lost a job or maybe have had financial difficulties, like so many others in this country struggling economy and horrific recession. There is a lot of points in “Up in the air” to link and relate to and as Mitch Deinhammer put it “that’s what makes it so special.”
By: Lucas Gansmoe
Period 6
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